Chaos, Corruption, Cruelty: Committee Democrats Rebuke President Trump’s Extreme and Dangerous Immigration Policies
Committee Democrats and Mayors Rebut Republican Rhetoric and Expose Their Fearmongering Falsehoods
Washington, D.C. (March 6, 2025)—At a hearing on the sovereignty of American cities, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led Committee Democrats in calling out Republicans’ falsehoods and fearmongering, shutting down their baseless attacks on American cities and immigrant communities with data and evidence—all while underscoring the tangible harm President Trump’s extreme and cruel policies inflict on communities nationwide. Committee Democrats identified policies proven to reduce crime and called on President Trump and Republicans to support real solutions that put kids and families above extremism, cruelty, and spectacle.
“The Republican crusade against local independence doesn’t just undermine public safety in our communities—it is blatantly cruel and, I say, inhumane and un-American,” said Ranking Member Connolly in his opening statement. He continued, “Children are going to be afraid to go to school—one reportedly wrote a goodbye note to friends, saying, ‘If ICE takes me don’t forget about me.’ If ICE takes me, don’t forget about me. From a child. Is that the country we want?”
The hearing included testimony from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as well as David Bier, Director of Immigration Studies at the Cato Institute.
Democrats emphasized that President Trump’s corruption and lawlessness are an assault on America.
Mr. Bier emphasized the unprecedented extremism of President Trump’s immigration agenda: “What we do see under this Administration is an increasing willingness to ignore the laws. [Trump], as I mentioned, signed an executive order that says he can ignore due process rights for people who are accused of being in the country illegally. This is an incredibly dangerous assertion of authority and should be investigated by Congress.”
When Ranking Member Connolly asked about Tom Homan’s claim that he is “bringing hell” to the city of Boston, Mayor Wu challenged: “Let’s talk about Tom Homan. Shame on him for lying about my city, for having the nerve to insult our police commissioner who has overseen the safest Boston has been in anyone’s lifetime. Bring him here under oath and let’s ask him some questions. I am here to make sure the City of Boston is safe. Others may want to bring hell; we are here to bring peace to cities everywhere.”
Rep. Robert Garcia called out the quid pro quo deal the Trump DOJ entered into with Mayor Adams to coerce him into carrying out the extremist mass deportation agenda: “Look at how the Trump-appointed Acting U.S. Attorney who was prosecuting you described it: ‘Because the law does not support a dismissal, and because I am confident that Adams committed the crimes with which he is charged, I cannot agree to seek a dismissal.’ Now this is a conservative Republican who resigned when Donald Trump pressured her to drop the charges. And we know the Trump Administration demanded that the charges be dropped. And this is key—they will be able to refile them against you, Mr. Mayor, at any time.”
On the corruption at the Department of Justice described by Mr. Garcia that resulted in the resignation of seven Democratic and Republican prosecutors, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated: “These are Republican [prosecutors] that have trained under Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices who have stated, and suggested as well, that the prosecutorial power at the Department of Justice may be influencing what is occurring. And instead of carrying that out and carrying out the erosion at the Department of Justice, they would have preferred to give up their entire careers—seven lifelong public servants involved in law enforcement … This right here is the four alarm fire that everyone must be paying attention to.”
Committee Democrats called out President Trump for putting extremism and cruelty above protecting kids and families and passing real immigration reform.
Rep. Shontel Brown highlighted Republicans’ history of undermining real solutions to the immigration crisis: “Today we’ve heard my colleagues on the other side of the aisle demean and dehumanize immigrants, choosing fearmongering and political theater over real solutions. So, let’s take a moment to set the record straight. The best chance for comprehensive immigration reform came in 2013 when a bipartisan Senate majority passed a bill strengthening border security and providing a path to citizenship for longtime residents. But House Republicans killed it. Fast forward a decade later to last year, the Senate crafted another bipartisan deal. One that would have enhanced border security and tackled the fentanyl crisis with better technology and more agents. But Donald Trump torpedoed it, preferring anti-immigration rhetoric to real solutions. So, this isn’t about fixing the problem, it’s about exploiting it.”
In response to a question from Rep. Ayanna Pressley about the fear that is keeping children from going to school and patients from going to follow-up appointments for critical care such as chemotherapy and dialysis, Mayor Wu stated: “We hear it from our shared constituents. People are afraid and that is having a huge impact on their daily lives when they’re just trying to do right and be a good example for their kids as they pursue the American dream.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi called out President Trump for politicizing immigration at the expense of making food and healthcare affordable for all Americans: “President Trump, if you’re watching this hearing, I respectfully ask, when will egg costs be high enough for you to issue one executive order on bird flu?... It will soon be cheaper to buy a magazine for an AK-47 than to buy breakfast. This is flat out wrong.”
Committee Democrats called for immigration policies and local law enforcement agencies that keep everyone safe.
The witnesses demonstrated that Republicans’ claim of a correlation between immigration and crime is patently false:
Despite Denver absorbing the largest per capita influx of immigrants of any city in America, Mayor Johnston reported, “We have homicides down 17%; violent shootings down 24%.”
Mayor Wu reported that the Boston crime rate has been falling: “We had 24 homicides last year. 24 too many, but that represented a tremendous reduction—one of the biggest drops anywhere in the country.”
Mr. Bier explained, “If you look at all of the major cities, there is a negative correlation between increasing numbers of immigrants and the homicide rates. So that means more immigrants, lower homicide rates. That holds true across the United States.”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari emphasized: “President Trump has diverted critical Homeland Security Investigation agents to work on immigration enforcement. That means they’re no longer investigating violent crimes like human trafficking, child pornography, and the flow of fentanyl in our communities, putting our entire country at greater risk. That means fewer violent criminals, pedophiles, and drug runners being apprehended, not more. Once again, Republicans are making life easier for criminals at the expense of victims, actually making our communities less safe.”
Rep. Dave Min explained that so-called “sanctuary” cities are a “situation where the federal government enforces immigration law while state and local authorities enforce state and local laws. I don’t know what my colleagues on the other side think, but I don’t want my police focused on immigration status and asking about that. I want them focused on preventing violent crime.”
In response to Rep. Wesley Bell’s question about how local law enforcement cooperates with federal law enforcement in his city, Mayor Johnson noted: “Violent crime in the City of Chicago is down” as a result of “trust between [the] community and local police[.]” Mayor Johnson also pointed out: “Our local police department allies and cooperates with federal agents around human trafficking, drug trafficking, getting guns off the street, getting gangs off the streets of the City of Chicago, and it has worked.”