Before a packed room on Capitol Hill, the House oversight committee, led by its Republican chair, James Comer of Kentucky, sought to portray sanctuary cities – a city that touts municipal laws that protect undocumented migrants – as havens for criminal activity and foreign gangs.
“The point that we’ve got to iron out today is that we have to have cooperation with federal law to turn over those illegal criminals to Ice and we’ve heard reports and many of you have said publicly that you are going to obstruct that,” Comer said. “That is against the law. And we’re going to hear more about that today.”
But instead of cornering the mayors, Republican lawmakers seemed to inadvertently provide them a national megaphone to sell their approaches to local governance and immigration.
“If you wanted to make us safe, pass gun reforms,” Boston mayor Michelle Wu said. “Stop cutting Medicaid. Stop cutting cancer research. Stop cutting funds for veterans. That is what will make our cities safe.”
It’s wild to see them acknowledge that crime is down. Under Biden, they were helping spread fear mongering about crime rates to justify increased police budgets, and got pissed when anyone pointed out the lower crime rates.
Wu absolutely killed it. I hope she runs for Congress. If you haven’t watched the hearing, I highly recommend it.
She really did, didn’t she? Thanks for sharing!
How is it backfiring? They get to say all this stuff to the Republicans’ collective faces, and then what? Conservatives will continue to march down this path. They don’t care with these mayors have to say
She refused to allow ICE to enter homes, or turn over immigrants, without a warrant. It doesn’t sound like much, but there are plenty of mayors that are giving them free rein.
I’m not discounting the actual efforts of these mayors at all.
Its good in the sense this stuff is brought up and made known even if it is being ignored. I recently saw a post where someone is like, someone needs to make these things known and that is the job of the democrats and they are failing. Well yeah failing but not for lack of trying. Its the old you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. I actually have first hand experience with a community of undocumented not talking to police and it was early 2000’s but many of these rules improved that type of communication. Without it the gangs rule the neighborhood and they become those so called no go zones.
You’re absolutely right. I’m just kind of venting here about the obstinance of conservatives right now
well, that did it.
first, they’re afraid to face voters back home, because even their voters are starting to catch-on that letting maga nuts run roughshod all over the federal government is not a good thing.
now they aren’t gonna let ‘hostile’ witnesses into those sorts of hearings anymore, either, just ones that will lie to help advance their twisted agenda.
Even these mayors ignore a big issue. In my city the main cause of violent death and injury is traffic violence, even more than homicides. Yet neither liberals or conservatives want to talk about this issue for some reason.
The concern about safety is all performative.
The optimism that the fascists will allow their opponents to speak is amusing.
And the notion that even if they do, that the media corporations will cover it unspun is even less likely.
