Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson refused to explicitly confirm whether they would cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in turning over criminal illegal immigrants during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday. Both mayors lead cities that maintain “sanctuary city” policies despite the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce immigration laws and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records.
Committee Chairman James Comer repeatedly pressed Wu and Johnson on whether they would comply with ICE detainer requests. Comer referenced a case in which an illegal immigrant allegedly raped and impregnated a 14-year-old girl while residing in a migrant shelter in a Boston suburb.
“Mayor Wu, under Boston law, would you turn this criminal over to ICE on a detainer?” Comer asked.
Wu responded, “Whenever there’s a criminal warrant, Boston police enforce that and hold them accountable.” When Comer repeated the question, Wu avoided directly addressing ICE cooperation. “This happened outside the city of Boston, but I can tell you in the city, whenever somebody commits a crime, whenever there’s a criminal warrant, we hold them accountable. If ICE deems them dangerous enough to hold, obtain a criminal warrant, then Boston police will enforce it.”
Comer took Wu’s response as a refusal to cooperate and shifted his questioning to Johnson. He asked the Chicago mayor whether he would turn over an illegal immigrant suspected of murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault.
“Our local law enforcement works hard everyday to get criminals off the streets of Chicago,” Johnson responded.
Comer interrupted, pressing him again: “Would you turn this criminal over to ICE?” He continued, That’s one of the topics of this conversation, that’s one of the problems we’ve heard from Tom Homan and from the Homeland Security, is that in your cities, when somebody’s apprehended for a crime and ICE is now, with this new federal policy, wanting to come in and deport the criminal alien that you will not cooperate with ICE. Will you turn that criminal over to ICE?”
Johnson again avoided a direct answer, stating, “We do not harbor criminals. Our local law enforcement works hard everyday to ensure the city of Chicago is safe.” When Comer pressed him further, Johnson reiterated, “With a criminal warrant from the federal government, our local law enforcement repeatedly collaborates with federal agents.”
Both mayors have previously indicated they will not comply with Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, according to the Daily Caller. Johnson has stated that Chicago will follow its own laws rather than federal policy regarding immigration, which has resulted in Attorney General Pam Bondi announcing a lawsuit against Chicago and Illinois officials over its sanctuary city policies.
