Parker dodged a GOP grilling as the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and Denver got called to Congress to defend their ‘sanctuary city’ policies

WASHINGTON — The Democratic mayors of Denver, Chicago, Boston, and New York City were grilled for hours over their so-called sanctuary city policies at a Congressional hearing Wednesday as President Donald Trump pushes his aggressive immigration agenda and threatens to punish cities that don’t comply.

While Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was not asked to appear before the Congressional committee, Philadelphia’s policies mirror those of several of the cities that were taken to task there, emphasizing the sorts of attacks city leaders face as they try to balance White House threats to pull federal funding with the concerns of immigrants and advocates in the city.

Wednesday’s hearing before the House Oversight Committee came as Trump’s administration has ramped up immigration enforcement with Attorney General Pam Bondi promising to end federal grants to sanctuary cities and ongoing threats from “border czar” Tom Homan to mayors if they don’t comply.

“The mayors here today each lead a so-called sanctuary city,” committee chair James Comer, (R., Ky.) said to open the hearing “And let’s be clear: These policies only create sanctuaries for criminals.”

While Democrats emphasized the virtues of immigration and the unrealistic burden that enforcing immigration would put on local law enforcement, it was still a tense few hours for the mayors in the hot seats.

Republicans accused the leaders of protecting undocumented immigrants, overspending on social services for them, and obstructing federal authorities.

In one of the more explosive moments, Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) said the mayors had “blood on their hands” for resisting federal pressure to help deport immigrants.

She asked each one: “Do you hate Donald Trump more than you love America? Yes or no?”

The mayors defended their policies, stressing that they follow all laws and arguing that any federal cuts would do more harm to public safety than isolated incidents of immigrant crime.

David J. Bier, the director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, testified at the hearing that research shows jurisdictions that do not honor ICE detainers or adopt sanctuary policies are safer and more economically vibrant than those that do.

The stated purpose of the hearing was to “investigate” sanctuary cities, places that deliberately limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, but the day unfolded, as these hearings are known to, with a heavy dose of political grandstanding.

The Republican-led House committee was the same one that questioned university leaders a year ago about combating antisemitism on campuses. The widely viewed inquisition resulted in the eventual resignation of Penn president Liz Magill and others.

Even before the questions started, the theatrics were on display. The hearing was promoted with a video montage set to sinister music of tent cities, criminals with guns, and a graphic of the Declaration of Independence on fire.

“Who elected you? The people who came illegally or the people that reside in Chicago?” Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pa.) asked Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. “Who do you serve?”

“The people of Chicago elected me,” Johnson said. “And we serve all the residents of Chicago.”

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, the only Pennsylvania Democrat on the committee, called the hearing “a shakedown against the mayors of some of our nation’s biggest cities in part of Trump’s ongoing anti-city crusade.”

Lee noted cities are on the hook for lawsuits if they cooperate with ICE and violate a resident’s constitutional rights.

“Republicans are putting these mayors between a rock and a hard place,” said Lee, who represents a district that includes parts of Pittsburgh. “If they work with ICE, they risk violating their own residents’ constitutional rights and opening themselves up to costly litigation. But if they don’t do Trump’s bidding, they’re being threatened with losing federal funding.”

Parker has taken a much more subdued approach compared to some of her mayoral colleagues testifying Wednesday.

She passed on a chance to reassert Philadelphia’s status as a sanctuary city in December and has given tepid answers to her position on continuing the policy.

Still, by the letter of the law, a 2016 executive order codifying the city’s sanctuary status is still in place.

But the issue has become increasingly volatile in Trump’s second term and even some Democrats on the committee seemed to recognize the public interest in curbing illegal immigration.

“We’re struggling with this right now, there’s a tension between that authority of Congress to act and your responsibility, nobly taken to provide a safe environment to the residents and visitors to your city,” U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D., Mass.) said to the mayors at the hearing. “How do we reconcile the tension between those two?”

For the mayors in the hot seats, Wednesday also provided a moment to defend their cities and respond to Trump’s insults on the national stage — their versions of Trump’s “Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia” remark.

Johnson, rejected Trump’s 2020 comment that Chicago was “worse than Afghanistan,” noting its third-highest-in-the-nation GDP and consistent ranking of a top place to live.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu clapped back at attacks that she wasn’t managing her city’s money well, noting Boston’s triple-A bond rating and that it’s one of the safest cities in America.

“The false narrative is that immigrants in general are criminals ... that is actually what’s undermining safety in our communities,” she said in response to a line of questioning from Rep. Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.), one of Congress’ fiercest border hawks.

“If you want to make us safe, pass gun reforms, stop cutting Medicaid, stop cutting cancer research, stop cutting benefits for veterans,” Wu said.

Amid their full-throated defenses of their cities, the mayors were clearly hesitant to use the now politically charged term “sanctuary city.”

Wu called Boston a “safe” city and Johnson referred repeatedly to Chicago’s “welcome city ordinance.”

Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams stood out in that he wasn’t just defending his city but whether he should still be leading it.

Several Democrats called for his resignation and questioned whether his openness to Trump’s immigration policies was the result of pressure from the White House in exchange for the dismissal of his legal problems. Trump’s Justice Department in mid-February ordered the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to drop corruption charges against him.

“There’s no deal. No quid pro quo,” Adams told the lawmakers.

And he was the friendliest mayoral witness to Republicans, often appearing to agree with them on the impact of immigration and commending Trump’s work to drive down border crossings.

“A 90% reduction, they were able to do that,” Adams said. “I see it on my streets every day.”

Staff writers Jeff Gammage and Anna Orso contributed to this article.