PEAK TO PEAK - On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston went before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at Capitol Hill to testify in an investigation into “sanctuary cities.”

Johnston was joined by Mayors Eric Adams of New York, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, and Michelle Wu of Boston, all of whom defended their cities’ policies on immigration enforcement. 

From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the mayors were questioned by the committee, which includes Republican Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Jim Jordan of Ohio; and Democrats Maxwell Frost of Florida, Jasmine Crockett of Texas, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. 

The purpose of the investigation was to hear the mayors’ testimony and build a case for the administration to deny federal grants to sanctuary cities. Additionally, the committee could recommend for these cities to be investigated by the Department of Justice for obstructing the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump Administration’s ramping up of immigration enforcement.

The term “sanctuary city,” having originated from movements out of California in the 1970s and 1980s, refers to a city, or state, that prohibits cooperating with federal authorities on immigration investigations. Many conservative politicians and pundits use the term to refer to a city’s safe harboring of criminals. 

Some of Denver’s and Colorado’s policies that the committee takes issue with include HB19-1124, known as the Protecting Colorado Residents from Federal Government Overreach Act, which prevents local law enforcement from arresting individuals based on their immigration status, holding individuals in jail for federal officials to arrive and detain them, and from providing ICE, and other federal authorities, information regarding an individual’s immigration status. 

SB21-131 prevents state employees from researching or disclosing an individual’s immigration status or personal identifying information to ICE, except when required by court order. 

Despite these policies clearly identifying the city’s position, Denver has a history of avoiding the label “sanctuary city,” with recent mayors completely denying the claim. During the committee’s investigation, Mayor Johnston and Denver’s policies were particularly targeted, with Republican members badgering Johnston to admit his city’s sanctuary status. 

Mayor Johnston arrived at the Capitol at 7:46 a.m. and moved directly past the line of reporters waiting for a sound bite. Denver Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat, was also present, in support of the Mayor; Republican Representatives Jeff Crank, Gabe Evans, and Jeff Hurd of Colorado were also present, and were allowed to question the Mayor after the committee members. 

The Democrats, as the minority, were also allowed one witness to offer testimony to support their position. David Bier, Director of Immigration Studies at the Cato Institute, filled that role, providing data, particularly related to crime rate statistics, showing that immigrants commit fewer crimes than Americans. 

The Cato Institute, as a libertarian think tank, advocates strongly for limited federal oversight of domestic and foreign matters, which includes immigration. 

In his opening remarks, Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) focused on placing blame for the country’s immigration crisis on the previous administration. Comer reiterated the Republican Party’s position on sanctuary cities: that they protect criminals and endanger law enforcement lives and overall public safety. 

Democratic Representative Gerald Connolly of the committee labeled the investigation as an exercise in forcing cities to conform to the Trump Administration. Connolly reinforced the Democratic Party’s stance that these cities remain in compliance with federal law and do not impede ICE’s ability to perform. 

"When buses started showing up filled with migrants, some in my city were afraid, just like I'm sure some of your constituents were afraid,” Mayor Johnston said in his opening statement to the committee.

“They were afraid about crime and homelessness and worried about what these new people might take away from them. I understand that fear, and the truth is people who are new to this country do good and bad.”

Denver has seen over 45,000 immigrants bussed in, mostly from Texas, since December of 2022. In that first year, 30,000 of them arrived. More buses arrived in 2023 and in 2024, resulting in a homelessness crisis, which tanked the Mayor’s and the City’s approval ratings, cost $340 million to mitigate, and forced Johnston to crack down on the issue, upsetting progressive groups. 

These 45,000 immigrants were released into the country by Border Patrol as part of a Biden Administration incentive that reimburses sanctuary cities for sheltering immigrants who were on the path to legal status by making contact with such authorities. 

“Denver made a choice as a city, not to hate each other, but to help each other; not to turn on each other, but to turn to each other and see if together we could solve a problem that felt bigger than any one of us, and that's what we did,” Johnston continued.

“Americans expect us to do more than point fingers, they expect us to solve problems. So if Denver can decide 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.”

Comer began the questioning of each mayor by asking them to answer “yes” or “no” on whether their city is a sanctuary city. When Mayor Johnston attempted to define Denver’s position and explain its policies, Comer cut him off and stated he would take Johnston’s reply as a “yes.”  

Boebert questioned whether Johnston would be recommending to Colorado Governor Jared Polis the repeal of SB21-131, HB17-1230, which is a provision of the Protect Colorado Residents from Federal Government Overreach Act, and HB23-1100, which prohibits ICE from setting up immigration detention centers. 

Boebert also asked if Johnston would repeal an ordinance that permits the firing of any city employee who shares information with ICE. Johnston answered that he would not be repealing, or recommending the repeal, of any of the laws Boebert was targeting.

Jordan grilled Johnston on the City of Denver’s handling of an ICE arrest of Abraham Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a 23-year-old suspected member of the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua. He was arrested for motor vehicle theft in November of 2023, for aggravated assault in February of 2024, and again for aggravated assault, and for fleeing law enforcement in a car the following month.

Jordan’s questioning highlighted a narrative that Denver mishandled the prisoner transfer by giving ICE only one hour’s notice that Gonzalez was being released, and by forcing ICE agents to apprehend him in public, instead of inside the jail, which allowed one of those agents to be assaulted by Gonzalez.

“That is how stupid sanctuary cities are,” Jordan proclaimed. 

Johnston reiterated that this unfortunate incident was the first time in over one thousand releases to ICE where the transfer went wrong, and that he would make adjustments to how Denver handles ICE transfers in the future.

Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona railed against Mayor Johnston for placing the immigrants bussed into Denver into a “luxury hotel.” Two Quality Inn locations hosted immigrants, as did the Radisson in Globeville, with one-year leases costing the City $10.3 million from unused COVID relief funds. 

“We’ve had enough. America’s fed with this betrayal of oath,” Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana said to all the mayors, before calling out Johnston specifically. “And one of you said you’re willing to go to jail. We might give you that opportunity.” Higgins was referring to statements Johnston had previously made to the media regarding how he is willing to defend his city’s position. 

Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) accused Johnston of being guilty of harboring illegal immigrants and asked him directly if he was still willing to face arrest, to which Johnston said he was. 

After telling all four mayors that they have “blood on their hands,” Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina lobbed a barrage of sensationalist questions at Johnston. Mace asked whether Johnston hated President Donald J. Trump more than he loved his country; whether he loved illegal aliens more than he loved his country; and if he believes he is on the right side of history when an illegal immigrant rapes a woman. 

Johnston responded that he loved his country, that he loved all the residents of his city and county, and that if an illegal immigrant committed rape he would charge and prosecute them.  

Republican Representatives continued to ask Johnston about whether he pushed back against the Biden Administration’s immigration policies, and whether he and the City of Denver would be willing to revoke their sanctuary city policies.

Greene, after claiming that immigrants cause a rise in crime and are contributing to a fentanyl crisis, asked if Johnston will work with ICE and repeal Denver’s sanctuary city policies. Johnston stated that he would work with ICE, though he added his official stance that the City of Denver’s policies work. 

As for Greene’s claim that immigrants cause crime, Johnston, along with the Democrats’ witness from the Cato Institute, Bier, provided national data, as well as data from the Denver Mayor’s office and the Denver Police Department, that indicated that all crime, including violent crime, has decreased since 2022. 

“Today’s hearing is nothing more than a shakedown against the mayors of some of our nation’s biggest cities,” Democratic Representative Summer Lee of Pennsylvania said in defense of those being questioned and scrutinized.

Lee, as well as Representative Ro Khanna of California, Bier, and others, all stated that traditionally Republicans, including the current administration, prefer local over federal control, and expressed surprise at the party’s exception to the rule when it comes to immigration.

“I would argue the premise of this hearing is false. We have local leaders working with law enforcement and it's bringing down crime,” Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia said. “The idea that these are sanctuary cities that need to be punished is simply a war on urban America.”

Representative Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia agreed with Connolly and the assessment of fellow Democrats and called Congress’s threat to disallow sanctuary cities access to federal funding “extortion.” 

Representatives Ayanna Pressley of  Massachusetts and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico both drew Chair Comer’s ire. Pressley attempted to read out the individual headlines for each article entered into the record that states that immigrants commit less crime than Americans, which Comer labeled as “performative.”

Stansbury urged Comer to show respect to his Democratic colleagues, which caused Comer to claim that both Stansbury and Pressley were attempting to filibuster.

 Despite these and other small outbursts, Comer commented, after officially concluding the investigation at 2:11 p.m., that “this is the best behaved this committee has been.” 

Colorado Representatives Crank, Evans, and Hurd were given their opportunity to question Mayor Johnston. Crank echoed Jordan’s talking points, tackling Johnston on Denver’s handling of the ICE transfer of Gonzalez, to which Johnston repeated the answers he had given to Jordan earlier. 

Evans made claims, which had already been disputed by Johnston and others during the hearing, that Denver’s public safety was in decline due to the immigration issue and that violent crime was rising.

Hurd stated that residents in Western and Southern Colorado are worried about immigrants moving to their areas from Denver. Johnston agreed that the situation was likely, and noted that rather than spend resources on tracking immigrants in such a manner, Denver instead focused on providing emergency services and ensuring that the people coming to his city were not left out in the cold.