(NewsNation) — The mayors of four sanctuary cities who will appear before the Republican-led Committee On Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday could be risking the loss of billions in federal funding for what GOP leaders refer to as a lack of cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
The committee’s chairman, U.S. Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, maintains state and local governments that refuse to comply with immigration enforcement “should not receive a penny of federal funding.”
The threat to withhold funding from cities like Chicago, Denver, New York and Boston, the four cities whose mayors will appear before the committee, has also been floated by President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan.
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Homan said the lack of cooperation puts Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at risk and puts local neighborhoods in those cities in danger.
“Sanctuary cities want to keep locking us out of jails, (and) they force us into neighborhoods to find the bad guys,” Homan told reporters Tuesday. “Many times, they’re with others, others who aren’t a criminal priority but are in the country illegally; they’re coming too.”
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The federal scrutiny of sanctuary cities has put Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, New York Mayor Eric Adams and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in the crosshairs.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has already sued the state of New York and the city of Chicago, alleging that the cities have obstructed the federal government from enforcing immigration laws. Shortly after Trump took office, the Department of Justice directed federal prosecutors to investigate whether local officials should face legal action for resisting federal immigration laws.
Besides the two lawsuits, Bondi issued a memo in early February stating that sanctuary jurisdictions will not have access to federal funds from the DOJ.
In addition, Bondi stated that the DOJ would pause the distribution of all funds until a review could be completed and would terminate all agreements that violate the law.
The memo said sanctuary jurisdictions should not have access to DOJ federal grants. The memo also threatened to pause funding to nongovernmental organizations that “support and provide services to removable or illegal aliens.”
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the Department of Justice provided $1.56 billion in funding to sanctuary cities.
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In addition, Trump’s transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, has threatened to move federal funding away from sanctuary cities. That could mean billions of dollars that could be withheld from those cities and states that have sanctuary policies in place that prohibit local police and law enforcement agencies from assisting with federal immigration enforcement.
The New York Times reported that the DOT sends billions of dollars to states and local governments each year for the funding of highways, public transit systems, airports, bridges and other projects.
Emails seeking comment from the four cities about the ramifications of Wednesday’s congressional hearing and how federal funding in used were not immediately returned to NewsNation.
Despite the threats to strip sanctuary cities of federal funding, NewsNation political contributor Christopher Hahn said any funding withholding will likely lead to a lengthy legal battle that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Homan said that the disbursement of federal funding cannot be dependent on which political party is occupying the White House without Congress acting.
Hahn believes the four mayors should be ready walk into what is expected to be a “very hostile” environment and defend the work their cities have done with the migrant community. He said that in each case, the mayors in each of the cities have committed to helping federal immigration officials deport dangerous criminals.
But rather than focus on what these cities are doing, Republicans are focused on the “show business” aspect of Homan’s mass deportation efforts. He said it’s up to the mayors on Wednesday to ignore the hostility and stick to their gameplan of defending their cities.
“(Republicans) have these ideas, and what’s happening is that their ideas are actually hurting the average American,” Hahn said. “Forget the immigrants. The average American is going to start to see increased prices on a lot of things and immigration is part of that.”
Federal focus remains on sanctuary cities
In announcing Wednesday’s hearing with the four mayors, the Committee On Oversight and Government Reform included a nearly three-minute video on social media, targeting the four cities.
In a statement, Comer referred to those mayors as “pro-illegal alien mayors” and said all four have “implemented reckless, illegal policies that shield criminal aliens from federal immigration enforcement and endanger public safety.”
In response, Wu called the video “pretty dramatic” and said the video was “amusing to see so much effort going into hyping up the hearing. There are important topics we need to talk about.”
Of the four mayors, only Adams has said that he would show cooperation with ICE and has signed an executive order allowing ICE agents to work on Rikers Island to help identify violent migrant criminals.
In announcing Wednesday’s hearing last month, Comer said that “President Trump and his administration are rightfully taking action against sanctuary cities.”
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Comer previously said that “sanctuary mayors owe the American people an explanation for city policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law” by releasing dangerous criminals into the streets.
Homan has made previous visits to Chicago and New York, where highly publicized ICE raids took place. Homan recently targeted Boston, saying he was “bringing hell with him” as his focus on noncooperative cities continues.
Despite the two filed lawsuits and threats of having federal funding withheld, the mayors who will go before the congressional committee Wednesday remain committed to protecting their respective cities’ sanctuary status.
“We are not going to be intimidated by those acts of terror that radically shift our way of living,” Johnson, Chicago’s mayor, told WTTW News. “That’s what individuals who stoke fear into people want to see happen.”
Trump’s threats to go after officials who do not comply with federal immigration enforcement have also drawn the attention of migrant advocacy groups. Eskinder Negash, the president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, said that “punitive measures” like the threats are counterproductive and unjust.
“We should remain committed to advocating for policies that prioritize compassion and the shared prosperities of our communities,” Negash said.
