Denver’s attention is turned to Washington today with Mayor Mike Johnston scheduled to testify in front of Congress over his approach to immigration. It’s a major moment for the mayor, with the city going so far as to shell out up to $2 million for heavy-hitting legal counsel. Here’s what’s at stake for the Mile High.
How We Got Here
Back in January, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform launched an investigation into “sanctuary jurisdictions,” inviting the mayors of Denver, Chicago, New York City, and Boston to come and explain “their abject failure to comply with federal law.”
Is Denver a ‘Sanctuary City’?
While Denver has never formally embraced the title of “sanctuary city,” Mayor Mike Johnston has gone so far as to cut funding from other city departments in order to support newcomers arriving in Denver. Largely under his leadership, the city welcomed and sheltered more than 40,000 immigrants between 2022 and 2024.
Then last November, he sparked a media firestorm when he suggested he might deploy Denver police to resist federal agents and military troops carrying out immigration enforcement. While he later walked back that particular comment, the mayor maintained that he was personally willing to risk jail time rather than enforce policies he believes are unlawful and un-American.
What Will Happen at the Hearing
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. MT and will be streamed live on the committee’s website and YouTube. The four mayors will face the 47-member Republican-majority committee for questioning that is expected to last at least four hours. Each committee member will be allotted five minutes to ask questions of any of the mayors.
Notably, the committee includes Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert who has been publicly critical of Johnston’s approach to immigration (and many other issues). The committee will also include freshman Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton, who doesn’t normally sit on the committee but was granted a special exception for the occasion.
The committee has hyped up the hearing with its own glitzy promo video, promising to hold the mayors publicly accountable for, as they claim, failure “to protect magnificent law-abiding American citizens.” But many are calling the hearing nothing more than political theater. Even Mayor Johnston told us he doesn’t expect a fair fight.
What’s at Stake for Denverites
On top of Denver’s reputation being on the line, city officials worry this could be the start of a long, expensive legal battle. Even more worrying, some experts believe the hearing is a “preemptive attack” laying the groundwork for the Trump administration to slash federal funding to Denver and other so-called sanctuary cities.
Vibe Check
How’s Johnston feeling? Earlier this week, sources close to the mayor told the Denver Gazette that the mayor was feeling “optimistic” about the hearing. When we spoke with Johnston last week, he maintained a positive attitude:
“I’m going to take the remarkable stance of assuming best of intent. And we're going to make the clear case for what we've done and why we think it works. … We think it is a false narrative to say that somehow if you're a welcoming city, you're not committed to public safety. … They want to make this a divisive, dramatic, catastrophic issue on immigration, and it’s not. It doesn’t have to be ideological.”
What’s Next?
Tomorrow on the City Cast Denver podcast, we will dig into what went down at the hearing and how it might impact Denver. Subscribe now, and don’t miss a minute.
