Mayor Mike Johnston is testified before the powerful House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform today.
Read our full wrapup from the hearing.
What was the goal of the hearing?
The committee hearing is part of a larger push by national Republicans. Under President Donald Trump, Republicans want to investigate and punish so-called “sanctuary” cities who don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities’ efforts to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants.
Johnston came to the committee hearing voluntarily, but he could have been forced to attend by subpoena. The hearing, and the larger inquiry, come with plenty of risks for the mayor and the city — including the possibility it could feed into a broader effort to strip federal funding from cities and states.
The mayors faced close to 50 federal lawmakers, the majority of them Republicans — including Rep. Lauren Boebert. Rep. Gabe Evans, the newly elected Republican representative in CD-8, is also set to join the committee.
“The pro-illegal alien mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York City have implemented reckless, illegal policies that shield criminal aliens from federal immigration enforcement and endanger public safety,” said Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the chair of the committee, ahead of the hearing. “Criminal alien predators should not be free to roam our communities.”
What does the House Oversight committee do?
Generally, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform focuses on how federal money is being spent and how laws are being implemented, said Muzaffar Chishti, an attorney and fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. It acts as the main investigative body of the U.S. House.
The committee itself does not have the authority to cut funding or press criminal charges, but it has substantial resources to spend investigating the cities — and it can use subpoenas to get access to documents and witnesses. Additionally, it can drive the public debate, and its findings could become the basis for other branches of government, potentially including the Justice Department.
Why is Denver a target?
Over the last three decades, advocates successfully transformed city and state laws. A state that cracked down on undocumented immigrants in the mid-2000s adopted policies that opened public benefits to them, limited cooperation with federal authorities and more. Denver was at the forefront of that movement, especially in the first Trump administration.
Starting in 2022, Denver welcomed more than 42,000 new immigrants, many of them Venezuelans seeking asylum. The state of Texas was responsible for much of the influx — busing people who arrived in that state to Denver and other so-called sanctuary cities.
Denver spent nearly $90 million sheltering newcomers and connecting them with resources, according to mayoral spokesperson Jon Ewing. Johnston slashed the city budget to pay the expense.
As the election approached, Denver’s crisis became the focus of a national media frenzy. Countless reports centered on the presence of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua. At a campaign rally, Trump pledged to deport “migrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world,” starting in Aurora.
What have Johnston and Republicans said?
Johnston gained more attention from national Republicans after Trump won the presidential election. In an interview with Denverite this November, he conjured the image of “50,000 Denverites” waiting at the county line to block immigration authorities.
“It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them,” he said at the time.
That comment went viral, drawing criticism from national Republican figures ranging from Elon Musk to Newt Gingrich and Rand Paul
Immigration czar Tom Homan even said the mayor could be arrested if he interferes with federal law. Later, Homan similarly threatened to put local activists in handcuffs over alleged leaks about immigration raids.
Johnston, in particular, will be in the hot seat for how the city handled the arrival of more than 42,000 new immigrants in recent years, many of whom were bused from Texas. The committee may ask: Did Denver dump immigrants in adjacent communities like Aurora and Castle Rock without a plan? Violate federal law? Aid criminals?
The Mayor’s Office maintains Denver has not broken any city, state or federal laws and has always been willing to cooperate with the federal government in getting violent criminals off the street.
The mayor has put a positive spin on the hearing, saying that he’ll talk about how Denver’s immigration policies have kept the public safer and boosted the local economy.
“I’m going to make the remarkable stance of assuming best of intent,” Johnston told City Cast Denver, later adding, “They want to make this a divisive, dramatic, catastrophic issue on immigration, and it’s not. It doesn’t have to be ideological.”
