Politics
Mayor Brandon Johnson in Testimony to Congress: ‘Scapegoating Entire Communities is Misleading, Unjust, Beneath Us’
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Wednesday fiercely defended Chicago’s protections for undocumented immigrants, telling Republicans on the U.S. House Oversight Committee that the city’s Welcoming City ordinance makes all Chicagoans safer.
“Every violent crime is devastating, but scapegoating entire communities is not only misleading, it is unjust, and it is beneath us,” Johnson said during his opening statement. “Any action that amplify fears of deportations makes Chicago more dangerous.”
Read Johnson’s full written opening statement.
Johnson testified alongside Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. All four are Democrats, but the Justice Department moved to dismiss Adams’ corruption case in an apparent exchange for his help with Trump’s efforts to conduct the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history.
Johnson repeatedly boasted that Chicago’s crime rate has dropped since he took office 21 months ago, even as the city struggled to care for more than 51,000 people, many fleeing violence and economic collapse in Venezuela, arrived in Chicago, most on buses paid for by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican.
"We still have a long way to go, but sensationalizing tragedy in the name of political expediency is not governing. It’s grandstanding,” Johnson said.
U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky), the committee’s chair, has accused all four mayors of prioritizing “criminal illegal aliens over the American people.”
Comer used his opening statement to take direct aim at Chicago, accusing police of refusing to turn over an undocumented man arrested for attempting to lure a child to federal immigration agents. Comer did not identify the man.
Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance is designed to ensure that all Chicago residents, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, can obtain city services, including police protection and medical care, Johnson said.
Comer closely questioned each of the mayors about whether their police departments would turn over a criminal to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Johnson said the Chicago Police Department would do so, as long as those agents had “a criminal warrant.”
“They are subject to the federal laws, and that includes deportation,” Johnson said.
Chicago police have always compiled with judicial orders executed by federal agents.
However, the Welcoming City ordinance prohibits city employees and officials from responding to requests from agencies, including so-called ICE detainers, which seek to have local officials hold undocumented immigrants after completing their sentences until federal agents can take them into custody and start deportation proceedings. Those happen without a court order.
Johnson faced much friendlier questioning from U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a fellow Chicago Democrat, who noted that Conde Nast has called Chicago the best big city in America for eight years in a row.
That gave Johnson a chance to embrace his favorite part of being Chicago’s mayor, serving as the city’s hype man, and offer what he called a “friendly amendment.”
“Best freaking city in the world,” Johnson said, before channeling urban historian Sherman “Dilla” Thomas. “The city of Chicago is a beautiful place. … In fact, everything that is dope about America comes from Chicago.”
Read More: What Does It Mean That Chicago Is a Sanctuary City? Here’s What to Know
Johnson faced much less friendly questioning from key allies of President Donald Trump, and was repeatedly pressed on how much the city has paid to care for the migrants. That expense has infuriated many Black Chicagoans, whose pleas for help from the city after decades of disinvestment have repeatedly fallen on deaf ears.
Johnson repeatedly said that Chicago has spent approximately 1% of the city’s budget during the past for years to care for the migrants. When pressed by U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Florida), Johnson said he did not have detailed figures available but promised to send them to his office.
“That’s why you’re a failing mayor,” said Donalds, a likely candidate for Florida governor.
Those figures are available on a city-published database, which shows that Chicago taxpayers have spent a total of $268 million, with an additional $370.5 million coming from state and federal grants, to care for the migrants between August 2022 and December 2024.
Johnson did not respond to Donalds, nor did he respond to U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), who insulted Johnson after demanding yes or no answers to a series of questions. Johnson asked Mace, best known for attacking transgender people, to clarify her question.
“This is why you have a 6% approval rating, because you suck at answering questions,” Mace said, before scoffing at Johnson’s statement that the city of Chicago follows all state and federal laws. “I highly doubt that.”
U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) asked Johnson about Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s investigation of his office’s handling of gifts accepted on behalf of the city and stored in his office at City Hall, and entered her findings into the Congressional Record.
Few of the questions from Republican members of the committee reflected an understanding of Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which does not require city officials to encourage immigrants to move to Chicago nor does it obligate officials to use taxpayer funds to care for immigrants in Chicago.
In addition, most of the migrants who made their way to Chicago after crossing the southern border, are not undocumented after requesting asylum and getting permission to remain in the United States while their cases are resolved.
Since Trump took office, many undocumented immigrants have returned to life in the city’s shadows, for fear of exposing themselves or their families to deportation, immigrant advocates said.
The mayor’s testimony took place even as a federal lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against Chicago begins to work its way through the court system.
The Trump administration has asked U.S. District Court Judge Lindsey Jenkins to invalidate the state, city and county laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state and local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents.
Jenkins, a Biden appointee, is scheduled to hold an initial hearing in the case on April 15.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone| (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
