Denver mayor faces threats of jail time over city’s sanctuary policies

THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED ON COLORADOSUN.COM

DENVER | Mayor Mike Johnston, called before a congressional committee Wednesday to answer for Denver’s status as a so-called sanctuary city, said providing refuge for the tens of thousands of migrants who arrived in Denver was both a requirement of his job and a moral obligation.

Several Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, however, said Johnston — along with the mayors of Chicago, New York and Boston — should be prosecuted and jailed for violating federal law that prohibits “harboring illegal aliens.”

Four hours into the heated hearing, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, said she would request that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi investigate the mayors. A referral from a member of Congress does not guarantee the U.S. Department of Justice will investigate.

“I’m not doing that in an effort to bully you guys but I do believe that your policies are hurting the American people,” she said. “If you guys continue doing what you are doing, you are not going to help anyone. You are going to hurt more people and that’s exactly why I’m tired of it. The American people are tired of it.” 

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican, referenced a previous comment by Johnston that the Denver mayor was willing to go to jail to prevent immigration raids at schools and churches in his city.

“One of you said you were willing to go to jail,” Higgins said at the end of fiery remarks about the dangers of illegal immigration. “We might give you that opportunity.” 

Johnston faced multiple rounds of tough questioning, including from U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, after he described how Denver housed and fed many of the 42,000 migrants who arrived in the city in an 18-month period beginning in December 2022.

“We are each entitled to our own opinion about what should happen at the border,” Johnston said in his opening remarks to the Republican-controlled committee. “But that was not the question facing Denver. The question Denver faced is: what will you do with a mom and two kids dropped on the streets of our city with no warm clothes, no food and no place to stay?” 

Johnston also quoted from the Bible as he spoke to the panel. 

“As mayor I have to protect the health and safety of everyone in our city. As a man of faith I have a moral obligation to care for those in need,” he said. “As scripture says, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.’ So that’s what we did.” 

At the height of the migration to Denver, 10 or 11 buses were arriving per day, carrying hundreds of people, many of them women and children in T-shirts and sandals in the middle of winter, Johnston said. Denver set up eight city-funded shelters, which are now closed, and helped 8,700 people apply for work authorization. 

“When buses started showing up filled with migrants some in my city were afraid, just like I’m sure some of your constituents are afraid,” Johnston said. “They were afraid about crime and homelessness and worried about what these new people might take away from them. I understand that fear. The truth is people who are new to this country do good and bad just like all of us.

“When those buses kept on coming, Denver made a choice as a city, not to hate each other, but to help each other.” 

Boebert, whose district includes Douglas County, Loveland and the rural Eastern Plains, is on the committee, and three other Colorado Republicans — Reps. Jeff Crank, Jeff Hurd and Gabe Evans — asked to take part in the hearing. 

Besides threats of jail, the hearing could have big implications for Denver and the other cities, as members of Congress have called for ending federal funding to cities that do not cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In Colorado, it’s against state law for local law enforcement to hold immigrants in jail for the purpose of waiting for ICE to pick them up. 

Boebert, limited to five minutes like the rest of the panel, peppered Johnston with questions and wanted “yes” or “no” answers. When he tried to speak longer, she cut him off. 

Boebert questioned why the mayor hired a lawyer “to help cover your ass for Denver’s sanctuary city policies for this hearing” and said she has documentation “that proves you were shipping illegal aliens to Aurora, their crime was increasing while you were hiding under laws that you will not demand be repealed.”

She asked about a 2017 Denver ordinance, called the Public Safety Enforcement Priorities Act, that prohibits city employees from asking about someone’s immigration status or reporting it to federal immigration authorities. 

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