Mayor Adams will testify before a Republican oversight hearing on sanctuary cities, his office confirmed on Wednesday.
The mayors of Boston, Chicago and Denver have also confirmed their attendance for the March 5 hearing, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), chairperson of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said on social media Wednesday.
Comer launched the probe into cities with sanctuary policies ultimately “to enforce compliance with federal immigration law,” he wrote. The committee has asked each of the mayors to provide them with materials about their sanctuary policies.
“Sanctuary mayors have prioritized criminal illegal aliens over the American people,” Comer said on Twitter. “They owe Americans an explanation for their policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law.”
The Big Apple’s sanctuary policies block cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities and ban those agents from city jails, schools and churches, among other locations. The laws aim to ensure immigrants can use city services and report crimes without fear of deportation.
Adams has said he will follow the laws of the city — but has often said he wants to change them.
After a December meeting with border czar Tom Homan, Adams said he may use executive orders to modify New York City’s current sanctuary protections.
“I’m going to use my executive power to go after dangerous people who are committing violent acts as migrants and asylum seekers,” Adams said.
The hearing comes as ICE agents have started rounding up undocumented immigrants, including in New York City, as part of President Trump’s deportation agenda.
Since then, Adams has repeatedly said that he supports the deportations of criminals and that he wants to secure the border.
“We cannot have porous borders,” the mayor said Monday. “We have to make sure that our borders are secured, it’s a public safety issue.”
Adams has said he won’t publicly criticize Trump, but instead will deal with him directly on any issues of concern.