The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held “A Hearing With Sanctuary City Mayors” on Wednesday, with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston among those invited to testify. The mayors of Boston, Chicago, and New York also testified before the committee, which included Colorado District 4 Representative Lauren Boebert.
Mayor Johnston defended the policies of the city and said Denver informs ICE when there is a jailed individual wanted on an immigration detainer. According to Johnston, the city notifies ICE when the individual will be released, but will not hold them any longer. Over the last seven years, Denver has given these notifications to ICE 1,226 times.
Representative Jim Jordan from Ohio countered Johnston and said that ICE was only given one hour’s notice for the release of Tren De Aragua member Abraham Gonzalez, who was later chased down and detained by ICE after he was released. A video was released of ICE detaining Gonzalez in the streets of Denver.
During the hearing, Representative James Comer said that “if sanctuary cities were to simply communicate and work with federal immigration authorities, then federal agents could arrest criminal illegal aliens in a secure environment like state or local jails. Instead, they have to risk their own safety and public safety by having to go into uncertain, dangerous circumstances to make arrests.”
The press release from the committee states that the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and Denver were not willing to “denounce their cities’ reckless policies.” Mayor Johnston was adamant that Denver did not cause the crisis at the border, but he and other city leaders have been tasked to deal with the aftermath of the government’s border policies.
“The question Denver faced is ‘what will you do with a mom and two kids dropped on the streets of our city with no warm clothes, no food and no place to stay?’” Johnston said.
Johnston pushed back at Congress for not doing enough to handle the situation at the border. “If Denver can find a way to put aside our ideological differences long enough to manage a crisis we didn’t choose or create, it seems only fair to ask that the body that is actually charged with solving this national problem, this Congress, can finally commit to do the same," he said.
Representative Boebert asked Mayor Johnston to call for the reversal of a 2017 ordinance. She said that “in 2017, Denver passed an ordinance that ensured any city employee who spoke with federal immigration authorities would be fired, among other policies that have led to local and national media outlets to call Denver a sanctuary city…. You have blamed state law for Denver being a sanctuary city. Would you join me today in asking for this law to be repealed?”
Johnston made headlines last November when he said he was willing to go to jail rather than comply with deportation orders he thinks are illegal. Representative Clay Higgins said “we might give you that opportunity” to go to jail if Johnston continues to support the current policies.
“I do believe we should have an immigration law,” Johnston said. “I do believe we should have secure borders. I do believe we should fix our asylum process. I do believe we should let Dreamers get access to permanent citizenship. As mayor I have to protect the health and safety of everyone in our city. As a man of faith I have a moral obligation to care for those in need. As scripture says, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.’ So that’s what we did.”
