Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is one of four big city mayors called by congressional Republicans to testify at a hearing next month on so-called “sanctuary city” policies.
Plans for the hearing, scheduled for Feb. 11, were announced Monday by House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, who called it part of an investigation into “misguided and obstructionist policies” that hinder enforcement of federal immigration laws.
“Denver is a sanctuary jurisdiction that refuses to fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement,” Comer wrote in a letter to Johnston. “To provide much needed oversight of this matter, the Committee requests documents and information related to the sanctuary policies of Denver.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu were also called by Comer to defend their cities’ polices.
There is no legal definition of what constitutes a “sanctuary” city or state. Colorado law prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal agents in detaining people for civil immigration offenses — in other words, merely being in the country unlawfully — and from entering certain agreements to detain immigrants on behalf of the federal government. In 2017, Denver City Council members unanimously adopted a wide-ranging immigration ordinance that placed other restrictions on cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, including barring them from secure areas in the city jail without a warrant.
Johnston made headlines in November when he predicted that President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations would lead to a “Tiananmen Square moment” in Denver with police and citizens engaging in mass civil disobedience to halt federal operations. He soon walked those comments back.
In recent weeks, Johnston has reiterated a willingness to cooperate with ICE to deport “violent criminals,” while speaking out against broader plans for mass deportations and ICE’s announcement that it would target “sensitive locations” like schools and churches for raids, in a reversal of a previous policy.
Johnston’s office said the mayor is reviewing the Comer letter and weighing whether he’ll testify on Capitol Hill as requested next month.
“The most helpful thing Congressional Republicans could do right now is fix our broken immigration system,” Johnston said in a a written statement. “While they work on that, we will focus on running the cities that manage the consequences of their failure to act.”