Dem Mayors Plot Their Next Moves After House Oversight Launches Probe Into Sanctuary Cities

Democratic mayors in some of America’s largest cities are weighing their next moves after the GOP-led House Oversight committee launched an investigation into their jurisdictions over immigration and requested city leaders testify before Congress.

Mayors in Boston and Chicago didn’t say Tuesday exactly how they plan to respond to a letter from Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) sent Monday night requesting information and both mayors who lead sanctuary cities said they haven’t decided whether to travel to Washington next month to speak before the House. Such a move suggests the mayors, both Democrats, are eyeing both legal and political options as President Donald Trump claims a sweeping mandate over immigration.

“I’m standing with the full force of government today to demonstrate that Chicago is a welcoming city regardless of who’s in the White House,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday, with the police superintendent and his management team standing beside him.

In addition to Chicago and Boston, Comer sent his letter to mayor Eric Adams in New York City and Mayor Mike Johnston in Denver. The letter from Comer is the latest effort by the White House and Republicans to target sanctuary cities, which generally resist working with the federal government on immigration arrests, since President Donald Trump took office last week.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials conducted sweeps in Chicago over the weekend, while the Department of Homeland Security coordinated with the New York Police Department Tuesday morning to “conduct a targeted operation to arrest an individual connected with multiple violent crimes,” Adams said in a statement, adding that the city “will not hesitate to partner with federal authorities to bring violent criminals to justice — just as we have done for years.”

In contrast to Adams, Johnson called on Trump to instead work to pass laws that will provide more border enforcement — and accused the president of using his early immigration policies to “stoke fear” in the city.

"[Trump is] not doing that because he wants to stoke fear into people so that he can ultimately behave as the supreme existence, which is quite dangerous because you have a leader that believes they are supreme and above the law,” Johnson said. “There's some real messy history that demonstrates how damning that could be for the people of the planet.”

In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters Tuesday that the city is “still reviewing the letter.” She added that, “We follow the laws fully here in Boston. And at the city level, that means standing by our own municipal laws.”

“We're all experiencing a lot of the same sense of chaos and destabilization right now, whether it is the threat of federal funds that are legally obligated being pulled away, or the sense of fear that's being created in the communities,” she told reporters. “At the local level, we're focused on getting our job done every day. Our job is the one that people rely on to get their kids to school, to get around the city.”

In his first week in office, Trump signed multiple executive orders aimed at cracking down on immigration, including ending birthright citizenship by reinterpreting the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which grants citizenship to all people born on U.S. soil.