After Failures in the Courts, the GOP Is Threatening Sanctuary City Mayors

Republicans don’t want you to know how sanctuary cities work. The term itself is a bit misleading — there isn’t a one-size-fits-all definition, since sanctuary policies vary from city to city. Republicans also don’t want you to know how long the sanctuary movement has been around — as far back as 1971, when Berkeley, California, declared itself a safe haven for soldiers resisting the Vietnam War. But listen to the GOP’s favored talking points, and you’ll walk away with the false impression that sanctuary cities are a recent fad, hatched by “radical left” mayors to fuel chaos and violent crime.

Right-wing politicians, of course, have a vested interest in stoking anti-immigrant panic to score political points. These lies were at the forefront of a six hour-long House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, during which Republicans grilled the Democratic mayors of four cities on their immigration policies.

Mayors Michelle Wu of Boston, Mike Johnston of Denver and Brandon Johnson of Chicago each mounted a forceful defense of city laws limiting cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration enforcement. Even Eric Adams, New York’s disgraced and indicted mayor, acknowledged, weakly, that immigrants “play a vital role in the functioning of the city” and noted that, under New York City law, every “law-abiding resident, documented or not” has a right “to access vital services without fear of being turned over to federal authorities.”

Despite governing a major city with sanctuary policies, Adams has thus far chosen to refrain from speaking out against Donald Trump’s immigration orders, opting instead to hatch a self-serving deal with the current administration. Adams has ordered his employees not to criticize Trump, and he’s directed migrant shelter operators to let in immigration officials without a warrant if they “reasonably feel threatened.” Thanks to that bootlicking, the Department of Justice (DOJ) intervened in Adams’s federal corruption probe last month and asked the court to dismiss the case. Adams’s recent attempts to curry favor with the president also yielded him a lighter line of Republican questioning at Wednesday’s hearing than the other three mayors.

Still, throughout the day, GOP lawmakers attempted to paint sanctuary cities as unlawful, and several went so far as to suggest that all four mayors could face criminal prosecution.

“Every one of you is exposed to criminal culpability here,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), who also held up signs reading “sanctuary cities are illegal.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida), a fervent MAGA loyalist, outrageously claimed that she will refer the mayors to the DOJ) for prosecution. Trump’s administration has already made similar threats, and in February, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against Johnson and other Illinois officials, alleging that Chicago’s sanctuary policies are obstructing the federal government’s immigration actions.

Republicans would like you to think that local officials are breaking with some long-held precedent by upholding sanctuary policies. But a look at history quickly invalidates their key talking points. Chicago was first declared a sanctuary city back in 1985, when Mayor Harold Washington signed an executive order prohibiting city employees from sharing information about immigration status with federal authorities. Republicans have had 40 years to prove that policy is illegal. They haven’t.

In fact, time and time again, courts have reaffirmed the legality of sanctuary policies. The Supreme Court says that immigration is the sole responsibility of the federal government, and federal law doesn’t require local governments to collect information on immigration status. In 2018, Trump’s administration sued to block the California Values Act, which prohibits city employees and police from asking about a person’s immigration status, detaining an individual at federal officials’ request, or participating in arrests on civil immigration warrants. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in California’s favor in 2019, and the Supreme Court declined to take up the case.

Other attempts by the Trump administration to curtail local sanctuary policies have also failed. During his first term, Trump signed an executive order limiting federal funding to sanctuary cities, something his administration has once again threatened to do. But this tactic, too, has failed in the courts. A 2018 ruling by the Ninth Circuit was clear: The president can only withhold federal funding with congressional authorization. While the Trump administration appealed that decision, the Supreme Court once again dismissed the case in 2021.

While Republicans claim that sanctuary cities harbor violent criminals, multiple studies have shown that, on average, fewer crimes are committed per capita in counties with sanctuary policies. Local officials do collaborate with federal immigration when there is a criminal warrant, and local laws against violent crime of course still apply regardless of one’s immigration status. Other studies show that poverty and unemployment rates are lower in sanctuary cities, and advocates note that what the policies actually do is enable undocumented people to seek services like legal aid, housing and education, without fearing deportation.

Despite the clear weaknesses in Republicans’ arguments, Democratic lawmakers have often opted to entertain right-wing, anti-immigrant myths instead of going on the record in defense of human rights. During the 2024 presidential election, the Democratic Party’s official platform lurched hard to the right on immigration, part of an ill-fated bid to win over undecided voters after polling found voters preferred how Republicans approached the border. So, it was encouraging to hear Johnson, Wu and Johnston use the House floor to make compelling arguments in favor of sanctuary cities.

“If you wanted to make us safe, pass gun reforms,” Wu rebutted during the hearing. “Stop cutting Medicaid. Stop cutting cancer research. Stop cutting funds for veterans. That is what will make our cities safe.”