(AFP) – The Democratic mayors of four US cities were hauled over the coals in Congress Wednesday over “pro-criminal” immigration policies, as Republicans seek to back up President Donald Trump’s aggressive mass deportation effort. Boston’s Michelle Wu, Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, Denver’s Michael Johnston, and Eric Adams of New York were dressed down over “sanctuary city” policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration agents. All four cities have struggled to cope with a huge influx of migrants crossing from Mexico, and lawmakers in the Republican-led House Oversight Committee pressed the leaders on crime in their streets.
“Sanctuary cities make us all less safe and are a public safety nightmare. That is why I led an investigation into sanctuary cities and why these mayors are here today,” said committee chairman James Comer. “We cannot let pro-criminal alien policies and obstructionist sanctuary cities continue to endanger American communities. Today, Mayors Wu, Johnson, Johnston, and Adams will be publicly accountable for their failure to follow the law and protect the American people.”
Republicans gave Adams an easier time than his fellow mayors as he had made a show of cooperating with the White House on immigration after Trump’s Justice Department dropped a criminal corruption and bribery case against him. Adams, who is running for another term, denied repeatedly that his strong line on immigration was connected to the Justice Department’s decision, claiming there was “no quid pro quo, no agreement — I did nothing wrong.”
The former police officer defended New York’s sanctuary status, however, stating that crime was down last year and that the city had just seen three straight months of double-digit declines in major offenses. “To be clear: A ‘sanctuary city’ classification does not mean our city will ever be a safe haven for violent criminals. It also does not give New York City the authority to violate federal immigration laws,” he said.
Although the policies vary depending on the location, sanctuary cities typically prohibit public officials from telling federal agents about undocumented immigrants if they are at risk of deportation. Denver’s Johnston said that after he was sworn into office, 42,000 migrants arrived in just 18 months in what he termed “the largest per capita influx of any city in America.” He detailed how the city had helped them with housing, job training, and other programs, saying that his city had “made a choice” to provide a warm welcome and had come out “stronger and closer” as a result.
The hearing came with Vice President JD Vance visiting the US-Mexico border at Eagle Pass in Texas to tour an immigration processing facility. Vance, the highest-ranking member of Trump’s second administration to visit the border, was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence. “Because of what Joe Biden did at the border for four years, we had record increases in migrant crime, in fentanyl deaths, and in just floods and floods of people who shouldn’t be in our country, who came into the United States of America,” Vance said.
But he added: “The good news is, as President Trump said last night… it turns out we didn’t need new laws, we didn’t need fancy legislation. We just needed a new president of the United States.” In a speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Trump touted his actions to tackle illegal immigration, telling lawmakers that “as a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded.” Border patrol agents encountered around 8,000 undocumented migrants at the US-Mexico frontier in February — the lowest level since monthly records began in 2000 and a fraction of the 140,000 encounters recorded 12 months earlier under Biden.
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
