Republican Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) sharply criticized four Democratic mayors during a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday, accusing them of fiscal irresponsibility for failing to provide precise figures on their cities’ spending to support illegal immigrants.
The mayors—Mike Johnston of Denver, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, Eric Adams of New York City, and Michelle Wu of Boston—faced Donalds’s pointed questions about their budgets amid a broader GOP probe into sanctuary city policies.
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“How much did your city spend on illegal immigration? Do you have a round number?” Donalds asked each mayor, pressing for clarity on taxpayer funds allocated since the migrant influx surged in 2022. Denver’s Johnston offered a figure of $79 million since 2022, noting it covered “all newcomers” regardless of status. New York’s Adams provided the starkest number, revealing a whopping $6.9 billion spent on the crisis—a reflection of the city’s role as a major migrant destination.
Chicago’s Johnson, however, faltered, vaguely estimating “about 1% of our overall budget” for 2022-2024, tying it to buses sent from Texas. When pressed for specifics, he repeated the claim without a hard dollar amount. “That’s why you’re a failing mayor,” Donalds snapped. “If you don’t have a hard number, you’re not running your city well.”
Boston’s Wu took a different tack, sidestepping the question entirely. “We don’t ask about immigration status,” she replied, prompting an incredulous “Are you out of your mind?” from Donalds. Wu defended her budgeting record, but Donalds fired back: “To the city of Boston, just understand that your mayor does not care how much of your resources she has spent on people who are not citizens of the city of Boston.”
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The hearing, part of a Republican-led effort to scrutinize sanctuary cities, exposed deeper tensions. Earlier, Wu and Johnson dodged direct answers to Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on whether they’d turn over illegal immigrant criminals to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), fueling GOP claims of lax oversight. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) upped the ante, announcing she’d refer the mayors to Attorney General Pam Bondi for potential prosecution under federal laws against aiding illegal immigration.
The Trump administration has already flexed its legal muscle, with the Department of Justice filing lawsuits in February against Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois, as well as New York, over policies limiting local cooperation with ICE. The suits underscore President Donald Trump’s renewed push to dismantle sanctuary jurisdictions, a cornerstone of his immigration agenda.
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For Donalds, the mayors’ responses—or lack thereof—highlighted a failure of stewardship. “These cities are spending billions, and some can’t even tell us how much,” he said post-hearing. “The American people deserve better.” As the Oversight Committee digs deeper, the clash between federal enforcement and local resistance promises to intensify, with taxpayer dollars and public safety at the heart of the debate.
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