(The Center Square) – Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has agreed to testify before Congress over the city’s immigration policies, his office said Wednesday.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee last month sent a letter to Democratic mayors of so-called sanctuary cities, including Johnston, requesting that they testify at a hearing scheduled for Feb. 11.
Johnston’s office said he and the committee agreed he would instead testify at a hearing on March 5.
“Denver has shown you can be compassionate and welcoming without sacrificing public safety or core services,” a tweet from the mayor’s office said. “We look forward to discussing with the committee.”
The Trump administration has frequently pointed to Colorado as a case study for its efforts to deport violent illegal immigrants, citing Tren de Aragua gang activity in Aurora, which borders Denver. Federal agencies conducted raids in the Denver metro area on Wednesday, The Center Square reported.
The letter from House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, requested all documents and communications from Denver employees and contractors relating to the city’s sanctuary status dating back to Jan. 1, 2024.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions and their misguided and obstructionist policies hinder the ability of federal law enforcement officers to effectuate safe arrests and remove dangerous criminals from American communities, making Americans less safe,” the letter said. “Denver is a sanctuary jurisdiction that refuses to fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.”
Johnston said in an interview in November that Denver police would be “stationed at the county line to keep [federal immigration agencies] out,” but walked the comments back in a subsequent interview. The mayor also said he would join protests if the federal government violated immigrants’ rights.
In 2019, Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law that prohibits local law enforcement in the state from using civil immigration detainer requests to detain individuals, instead requiring a federal warrant.
Polis told KRDO last month that Colorado isn’t a sanctuary state in “any way, shape or form.”
A proposed ballot measure filed by a conservative advocacy group would require local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration detainer requests.
