Max Herman/Borderless MagazineDuring the congressional hearing, Johnson highlighted Chicago’s diverse migrant history and how sanctuary policies strengthen trust.
Mayor Brandon Johnson testified at a congressional hearing on sanctuary city policies in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, arguing that such laws make the city safer.
In opening remarks, Johnson, along with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and New York Mayor Eric Adams, told congressmen that sanctuary policies do not increase crime but instead build trust with local law enforcement.
“The cooperation of all people, regardless of their immigration status, is essential to achieving the city’s goals of reducing crime and pursuing justice for victims,” Johnson said. “When there is trust between cities’ residents and the police, undocumented immigrants come forward to report crimes to local law enforcement and provide information that helps the police solve those crimes.”
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The hearing comes amid heightened partisan scrutiny of sanctuary cities, which limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Donald Trump and Republican House leaders have targeted sanctuary cities, arguing such policies are impeding the federal government’s deportation actions.
During the hearing, Johnson pushed back against the allegations of harm, arguing that “every violent crime is devastating but scapegoating entire communities is not only misleading, it is unjust and it is beneath us.”
Johnson called Chicago a diverse city of immigrants founded by a Black Haitian man and a Potawatomi woman, and noted that laws like Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance have supported Chicago’s public order.
“The city is also safer because of our Welcoming City Ordinance,” he said. “That law makes sure that the city’s police resources are focused on our local priorities.”
Why is this happening now?
Last month, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Chicago, Cook County, and the State of Illinois over their sanctuary policies that prohibit local law enforcement from coordinating with federal immigration authorities.
While proponents, including Mayor Johnson, maintain that these laws are to build trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement to ensure that people feel safe reporting crimes without fear of deportation, critics argue that sanctuary cities undermine national security and immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit claims that the policies followed by so-called “sanctuary cities” like Chicago “interfere with and discriminate against” the federal government’s immigration enforcement. It targets Illinois’ TRUST Act and Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which prohibit local police from participating in immigration proceedings unless a criminal warrant is involved.
The lawsuit is the Trump administration’s latest effort to fulfill his campaign promise of withholding federal funds from sanctuary cities and states that fail to comply with mass deportations.
What is a Sanctuary City?
A Sanctuary City is a municipality that adopts policies to limit its cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These policies ensure that undocumented immigrants are not prosecuted solely for their immigration status. They are designed to foster trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement.
What is Chicago’s Welcoming Ordinance?
Chicago’s roots as a sanctuary city began as an executive order before becoming law in 2006. At the time, the Welcoming City ordinance allowed Chicago police to communicate with federal agents about undocumented immigrants with an outstanding criminal warrant, a pending felony prosecution, or those in the city’s gang database.
A 2019 study from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law emphasized that eliminating carve-outs improves community trust and reduces the likelihood of racial profiling. Advocates have pointed to this research as evidence of maintaining the ordinance’s current protections.
In 2021, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the city council expanded the ordinance and eliminated carve-outs for such cooperations.
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What’s the backlash?
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. James Comer, R- Ky., criticized sanctuary policies by stating that sanctuary mayors are responsible for policies that “jeopardize” public safety and “violate” federal immigration law by releasing “dangerous criminal illegal aliens” back onto the streets.
“These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies,” he stated.
Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., criticized Johnson and the sanctuary city arguing policies have “significantly harmed our once great cities.” LaHood said Chicago had spent $300 million of taxpayer money on immigrants lacking status, rather than citizens.
Johnson pushed back against LaHood arguing Chicago had “invested $1.25 billion for housing and economic development, particularly for Black Chicago.”
“It’s the largest investment in the history of Chicago, 45% increase in youth employment, particularly for Black and Brown children. I will not apologize for my investments in the people of Chicago.”
What are advocates saying?
A day before the congressional hearing, about 100 immigrant advocacy organizations pushed back against the partisan attacks on sanctuary cities.
“As immigrant families continue to be attacked by political leaders, it’s more important than ever to come together in defense of our values of dignity, safety, and belonging for all,” said Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, an immigrant organization focused on advancing rights for Asian Americans.
Lawrence Benito, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), said, “Welcoming City policies are a critical safeguard against federal overreach that protects the constitutional right of due process for immigrants and helps keep our communities whole.”
Benito called the hearing “political theater” from Republican lawmakers to “distract from their own unpopular policy agenda, which includes cutting Medicaid and other critical federal programs to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.”
“ICIRR and our allies will continue to defend Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance and other policies that recognize the basic dignity of all Illinois residents, and to resist further efforts to intimidate and harm our families and communities,” he said.
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