Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago defended his record and his city’s policy of not proactively helping immigration officials during hours of hostile questioning from congressional Republicans on Wednesday.
Mr. Johnson, a Democrat who is almost two years into his term, repeatedly insisted that Chicago’s practice of not cooperating with immigration agents, unless those agents have criminal arrest warrants, did not violate federal law. Those policies, he argued, made the city safer and allowed residents to help the police solve crimes without fear of deportation.
“Violent crime in the city of Chicago is down,” the mayor said. “It continues to go down under my leadership.”
Republicans were not having it. They argued that Chicago was breaking federal laws and making the country more dangerous by failing to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants.
“You’re putting the interests of illegal immigrants above the interest of taxpayers in Chicago,” Representative Darin LaHood, an Illinois Republican whose district does not include Chicago, said to Mr. Johnson.
A longstanding city ordinance in Chicago bars local officials from asking about a person’s immigration status, proactively sharing it with federal officials in most cases or allowing immigration agents to enter certain city facilities without a warrant.
The questioning on Wednesday sometimes turned personal. One member of Congress called Mr. Johnson “a failing mayor.” Another told him, “you suck at answering questions.” Another suggested that Chicago’s homicide rate was high enough to warrant a travel warning from the Trump administration.
Mr. Johnson offered short and even-toned answers to most questions, though sometimes he did not directly respond to what Republicans asked. Seated next to the mayors of Boston, Denver and New York, Mr. Johnson repeatedly said things like “Chicago complies with all laws” and “Chicago does not harbor criminals.”
At times, especially when responding to friendly questions from Democrats, Mr. Johnson pushed back against Republicans’ characterizations of Chicago, which generally ranged from unflattering to dystopian. Mr. Johnson talked about Chicago’s business growth and its airport, and used the stage to call Chicago the best “freakin’ city in the world,” one of his favorite phrases.
The hearing held high stakes for Mr. Johnson, who faces a list of political challenges back home ranging from the municipal budget to contract negotiations with the teachers’ union.
His tenure has included several political setbacks, including the rejection by voters of a plan to use new tax revenue to address the growing homeless population, as well as protests over plans to open new shelters for migrants who were bused to the city. He has not fully sold residents or City Council members on his vision for Chicago, and he has often struggled to turn his priorities into policy.
President Trump and his supporters have repeatedly singled out Chicago for its policies on immigration, and the Justice Department has sued Mr. Johnson over those rules.
The department has also said it could charge local officials with crimes if prosecutors believed they were impeding the work of immigration officers. Several Republicans on the committee suggested Mr. Johnson and the other mayors could face such charges.
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