House Oversight to Grill Sanctuary City Mayors

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is investigating sanctuary cities' refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Chair James Comer, R-Ky., announced the scheduling of a March 5 hearing in which the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City are expected to testify.

Comer last month launched a probe into the policies of sanctuary jurisdictions and their impact on public safety and federal immigration enforcement.

"The pro-illegal alien mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City have implemented reckless, illegal policies that shield criminal aliens from federal immigration enforcement and endanger public safety," Comer said in a statement. "Criminal alien predators should not be free to roam our communities.

"State and local governments that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement efforts should not receive a penny of federal funding. President [Donald] Trump and his administration are rightfully taking action against sanctuary cities. On March 5, the House Oversight Committee will hold sanctuary mayors publicly accountable for refusing to abide by the law and placing Americans' lives at risk."

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and New York Mayor Eric Adams are scheduled to appear.

Governors and mayors in blue jurisdictions have refused to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities who have been arresting illegal migrants.

Border czar Tom Homan has led Trump's effort to deport aliens with criminal histories.

Earlier this month, Homan told Newsmax that sanctuary cities should work with ICE to arrest criminal migrants if they want to see fewer collateral arrests.

"For the naysayers, the city council who wants nothing to do with ICE, they need to understand: If we arrest the bad guy at Rikers Island, then the alien's safe, the officer's safe, the community's safe," Homan said on "American Agenda."

"But when you release that public safety threat back into the public, what do I have to do? We got to send law enforcement officers in that community, and we will find him."

Homan added that doing things that way will lead to collateral arrests.

"When we find him, he's going to be with others — others who aren't a criminal priority, but they're going to be in the country illegally. So we're going to arrest them, too," Homan said.

"So the sanctuary city's going to get exactly what they don't want: more collateral arrests, more noncriminal arrests, and more officers in their neighborhood."

• Tom Homan to Newsmax: Security Should Be Nonpartisan Issue
• Tom Homan to Newsmax: To Dems in ICE's Way, 'Game On'