Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with the leaders of other sanctuary cities, is being called to testify before Congress as part of an investigation into how local policy is affecting immigration enforcement in connection with President Donald Trump’s promise of “mass deportations.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams were also summoned to testify at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Feb. 11.
The mayors were also asked to hand over all documents and communications related to the city’s sanctuary status, including those between the city and non-governmental organizations and state officials.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions and their misguided and obstructionist policies hinder the ability of federal law enforcement officers to effectuate safe arrests and remove dangerous criminals from American communities, making Americans less safe,” wrote committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) in a letter to Johnson on Monday.
“In addition to the efforts of the Trump administration to ensure federal immigration enforcement can proceed unimpeded, Congress must determine whether further legislation is necessary to enhance border security and public safety.”
Johnson’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
It’s not the first threat from the federal government to interject itself into the city’s sanctuary city policies.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with 10 other attorneys general, pushed back Thursday on a Department of Justice memo calling for investigations of state and local officials who “threaten to impede” enforcement of the Trump administration’s immigration initiatives.
“While the federal government may use its own resources for federal immigration enforcement, the court ruled in Printz v. United States that the federal government cannot ‘impress into its service — and at no cost to itself — the police officers of the 50 states,'” the attorneys general said in a statement Thursday. “The president has made troubling threats to weaponize the U.S. Department of Justice’s prosecutorial authority and resources to attack public servants acting in compliance with their state laws, interfering with their ability to build trust with the communities they serve and protect.”
The Chicago coalition Organized Communities Against Deportations was denied a request for an emergency hearing or injunction in its lawsuit against the Trump administration for its “mass deportations” plans, with a federal district judge saying their groups hadn’t been the target of federal immigration efforts.
Their suit cites First Amendment violations due to the fear caused by the threat of and later execution of raids by federal immigration authorities.
In his denial, federal district Judge Edmond E. Chang raised questions about the need for an emergency hearing given the plaintiffs weren’t the targets of the raids themselves, according to court documents. Chang said the already expedited schedule for briefings “remains the right course.”
Before the request for an emergency order, the government was required to respond to the suit by noon Wednesday, according to court documents. No hearing had been set.