WATCH: Denver mayor, in congressional hearing, tangles with Lauren Boebert and defends immigration policies
Johnston and three other mayors will testify Wednesday morning about their “sanctuary city” policies as President Trump pursues mass deportations.
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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is testifying Wednesday morning to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as the Republican-led panel scrutinizes several cities’ immigration policies.
This story will be updated during the hearing.
9:53 a.m. update: When Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, asked the mayors how they define “sanctuary city,” Johnston jumped in first to answer. He’d done that at least one other time so far when a general question was asked of the panel.
“We call ourselves a welcoming city,” Johnston said, adding that Denver is welcoming to everyone.
“So you’re welcoming criminals that you don’t have any idea what their crime background is?” Perry asked. “How do you vet the people that you welcome into your city?”
Johnston responded that city officials don’t vet people from anywhere, including Illinois, California or other countries.
“Folks that arrive in our city, we offer the same access to services that they may need to be successful. If they break the law, we hold them accountable,” he said.
9:50 a.m. update: GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio opened his questioning by asking about Abraham Gonzalez, focusing his five minutes only on Johnston and an incident last week involving immigration authorities’ arrest of Gonzalez in Denver.
Jordan said Gonzalez was arrested by border patrol on Sept. 20, 2023, and released into the U.S. months later, before being arrested in Denver for aggravated assault. Jordan listed other criminal allegations against Gonzalez, including motor vehicle theft and felony menacing.
ICE’s Denver field office identified the 23-year-old on Monday, calling him “a suspected (Tren de Aragua) gang member.” In an X post, the agency alleged that he was released from a Denver jail due to Colorado’s “sanctuary policies,” rather than being held for ICE. Federal officers arrested him in the jail’s parking lot upon his release.
“ICE was forced to arrest him in public, where he assaulted officers,” according to the social media post. “Sanctuary policies endanger communities and law enforcement. ICE will prosecute all assaults.”
Jordan said ICE was given only about an hour’s notice about Gonzalez’s release after Denver held him for 345 days. The incident was used as an example of ICE’s frustration with cities’ policies limiting cooperation with the agency.
The Denver Department of Public Safety provided a statement on Wednesday morning confirming its awareness of the incident on Friday afternoon. It said ICE officers arrested a man in the jail’s parking lot at 10500 E. Smith Rd. after his release. A department spokesperson said: “The Denver Sheriff Department provided notification of release to ICE at 2:39pm on 2/28 via email.”
A surveillance video shows — with a timestamp just before 4 p.m. — a man, allegedly Gonzalez, exiting the jail, then running and being chased by six federal officers. It appears that the subject runs into one of the officers before being tackled to the ground, but the details of what ICE characterized as an assault remained unclear.
Johnston said he’s reached out to ICE after seeing the video.
Earlier, speaking generally, he told another committee member: “What we do not do is hold someone beyond their release date (for ICE), because there are multiple courts who have found that to be unconstitutional.”
9:16 a.m. update: Johnston has seemed to come under the microscope more so than the other three mayors so far. That included a series of exchanges a short time ago with U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican. She began her line of questions by asking Johnston to join her in calling for the Colorado legislature to rescind state laws and policies blocking local law enforcement from working with ICE.
“I do not believe the detainer law needs to be changed,” he said.
The two went back and forth over the specifics of Denver’s and Colorado’s laws and when exactly Denver police will work with ICE. Johnston said they coordinate with the agents when there is a violent criminal with a warrant.
But Boebert said many issues arise before a warrant is issued.
“Local law enforcement officers are unable to coordinate because there is no warrant,” Boebert said. She continued pressing the mayor on why he hadn’t called for city or state policies related to immigrants — which were approved before he was in office — to be repealed.
As is typical in hearings like this, Johnston hasn’t been given much time to respond to some of the more pointed questions, with his questioners often restricting him to only a word or two in response before they interrupt.
9:05 a.m. update: The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and other pro-immigrant advocacy groups from the cities spotlighted in the Wednesday hearing stood in support of the Democratic mayors ahead of the hearing.
CIRC argued against the Trump administration’s push for Denver’s compliance during raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“For years, Denver has led the way in ensuring all people — no matter where they were born — can live with dignity and safety,” said co-executive director Gladis Ibarra in a Tuesday statement. “The federal government has no right to force our city to invest in ripping Denver families apart. We will not do ICE’s dirty work or turn our city into a pipeline for family separation.”
9:03 a.m. update: In a friendlier exchange, Democratic ranking member Gerry Connolly of Virginia asked Johnston: “What would your reaction be if (border czar) Tom Homan wants to bring hell to your city, Denver?” The congressman was referring to the border czar’s recent promise on Fox News that he is “bringing hell to Boston.”
Johnston responded, “There is no one that is seeking hell to come to Denver. What people are looking for is opportunity and hope.”
Connolly highlighted that Denver handled the largest influx of immigrants in the nation on a per-capita basis in recent years, and Johnston said “crime is down in Denver,” with homicides down 17% and violent shootings down 24%. Together, they were rebutting Republican claims that immigrants have caused crime increases.
8:58 a.m. update: Johnston got the first question from Rep. James Comer, the committee chair, setting off a contentious tone immediately.
Comer summarized Denver’s 2017 policy — mentioned below — which prohibits local law enforcement and jail deputies from aiding in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. He asked: “Is Denver a sanctuary city?”
Johnston began to answer, saying, “Lots of folks use that term,” and was quickly cut off by Comer, asking for a yes or no response.
“I can say what Denver does do,” Johnston said.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Comer said.
Before questions began, Comer said 60 committee members would have five minutes each for dialogue with the mayors. That means the hearing is likely to last several hours.
8:38 a.m. update: Johnston was up second for his opening statement, after New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Johnston contended that most migrants who arrived in Denver over the last two-plus years were women and children living in freezing temperatures, which led to the opening of shelters.
He highlighted the city’s efforts to help people obtain work authorization as they filed for asylum. All shelters have since closed, and Johnston said migrants did not contribute to increased crime locally.
“If we want to tell the story of what impact immigrants have in America, we must tell the full story,” he told the committee. “The truth is that people who are new to this country do good and bad, just like all of us.”
Since late 2022, nearly 43,000 migrants, many of them Venezuelans, streamed into Denver, according to the city’s data-tracking dashboard. Some have stayed in Denver, while others eventually moved on to other U.S. cities. Johnston spoke about buses that continued to arrive in Denver, especially in late 2023 and early 2024 — as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office organized bus trips out of that border state to cities like Denver.
“When those buses kept on coming, Denver made a choice as a city not to hate each other, but to help each other,” he said.
Johnston’s live remarks differed in some ways from the prepared text released ahead of time by his office. He referenced scripture at one point.
“As a man of faith,” he said, “I have moral obligation to care for those in need.”
8:28 a.m. update: Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the committee, also opened with a statement, aiming to rebut Comer’s comments. He said Republicans and Democrats agree that no one wants violent criminals in American cities but they disagree over the application of laws.
He said the cities’ policies don’t violate federal law or obstruct ICE from carrying out its duties but that Republicans will try to “frame them as lawless.”
“The Republicans’ crusade against local independence doesn’t just undermine public safety in our communities, it is blatantly cruel — and, I say, inhumane and un-American,” he said.
Besides Rep. Lauren Boebert, who’s on the oversight committee, the other three Republicans from Colorado were waived onto the committee as it got started — Reps. Gabe Evans, Jeff Crank and Jeff Hurd. That will allow them to ask questions today.
8:24 a.m. update: Although Johnston is identified as among the four mayors who lead “sanctuary cities,” whether Denver is a sanctuary city or not — a semi-political label — has been debated by its leadership.
Former Mayor Michael Hancock was vocal in 2017 against the term being applied to Denver. That year, he issued an executive order in support of immigrants and refugees, instead calling Denver “a safe and welcoming city for all.” That measure created a legal defense fund and directed the Denver Sheriff Department to not seek federal funding tied to collecting information about the immigration and citizenship status of people in Denver jails.
8:16 a.m. update: Committee chairman Rep. James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, opened the hearing by lambasting the mayors before him, saying their policies “create sanctuary for criminals.”
“Sanctuary cities release criminal aliens back onto the streets where they often go on to commit more crimes,” he said.
Johnston will attempt to refute that characterization, according to a copy of his opening remarks. He has maintained that Denver police and sheriff’s deputies work with federal immigration agents when it comes to people accused of violent crimes.
8 a.m. update: Johnston will attempt to strike a balance between describing Denver as a welcoming place for law-abiding immigrants and making clear that he supports targeting violent criminals, according to a copy of his opening remarks provided by the city.
“We should aggressively prosecute and deport those who commit violent crimes,” he plans to say. “For those who want to work and play by the rules, we should put them to work.”
The city has a history of cooperating with federal law enforcement organizations, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, according to his remarks.
But the city does support immigrants “who are playing by the rules” — and city officials are prepared to pursue legal action to protect them from enforcement operations in places of worship, hospitals and schools, he plans to say.
Johnston describes the city’s policies as: allowing city employees to cooperate with ICE “in the execution of a warrant issued by a federal judge or magistrate”; permitting agents with a warrant to enter “secure areas” of jails to enforce immigration laws; and, upon request, notifying ICE when the Denver Sheriff Department is going to release someone in its custody.
Toward the end of his remarks, Johnston plans to say he welcomes ideas about immigration reform that will secure the border, create a “better process” for immigrants to enter the country and make the “immigration situation easier for cities to manage.”
Original post: Johnston was set to appear alongside mayors from New York City, Chicago and Boston in the hearing, which is set to begin at 8 a.m. Denver time. This story will include a livestream of the hearing and news updates after the proceedings begin.
The majority-Republican committee has asked Johnston and the other mayors to testify about their “sanctuary city” policies as new President Donald Trump pursues mass deportations of people lacking proper legal status.
The hearing in Washington, D.C., could have major implications for Denver as Trump and congressional Republicans threaten to pull federal funding from cities that don’t cooperate with federal agents on such efforts. For Denver, that could mean losing millions of dollars for programs and projects.
When the Trump administration issued a sudden freeze on all federal grant spending earlier this year, a spokesman for the city said the city’s 2025 budget included $150 million in federal dollars for items such as infrastructure and small business support.
Denver city officials also are hoping to avoid a legal battle over the city’s policies, as has been the fate for other cities.
Each mayor will deliver an opening statement before the committee members are given five minutes each to ask them questions. The hearing is expected to last several hours.
U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert and Gabe Evans, both Republicans from Colorado who have challenged Johnston in the past, plan to participate in the hearing and are likely to focus their time specifically on him.
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