Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said the mayors were breaking federal law by harboring illegal migrants
Sanctuary city mayors grilled on handling of illegal migrants in heated hearing
Fox News correspondent Nate Foy has the latest on the House sanctuary city hearing on ‘America Reports.’
A Republican congresswoman said she is referring the Democratic sanctuary city mayors who testified before Congress on Wednesday to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said that the mayors who testified during a House Oversight Committee hearing on sanctuary cities were in violation of Title 8, U.S. Code § 1324, a federal law that makes it illegal to bring in and harbor unauthorized aliens. It also prohibits the unlawful employment of aliens.
"I just referred the sanctuary city mayors to the Department of Justice for CRIMINAL investigations based on evidence from their own comments and policies, proving that they were breaking federal law," Luna wrote on X with a video accompanying her announcement.
"Open borders ideologies hurt people on both sides. If you hold federal office and are breaking the law, you’ll be criminally investigated by the DOJ."
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu testifies during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on March 5. Following the hearing, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said she was referring the mayors to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu all defended their respective city’s sanctuary policies at the fiery hearing. They defended their communities as welcoming and called on Congress to pass immigration reform.
Republican members of Congress hammered the mayors for their sanctuary city policies, accusing them of endangering Americans and threatening to prosecute local officials.
Luna told the mayors that their policies were hurting citizens as well as migrants.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said the mayors were breaking federal law by harboring illegal migrants. (Getty Images)
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"I do not think you guys are bad people, but I do think you are ideologically misled," Luna said.
"Which is why, unfortunately, based on your responses, I’m going to be criminally referring you all to the Department of Justice for investigation," she said, holding up copies of the referrals.
"As soon as I leave here, these will be going over to [Attorney General] Pam Bondi."
A congressional criminal referral does not require the DOJ to initiate a prosecution and does not hold as much weight as a referral from an entire chamber.
Republicans, the mayors said, were trying to paint their cities as overrun by criminal immigrants even as crime was falling. The mayors said a key to safety is creating cities where residents feel comfortable reporting crimes and working with police.
Illegal immigration was a key plank of Trump’s presidential campaign, and he has repeatedly pressed on the theme since coming to office, including a Tuesday night speech to Congress where he vowed to "complete the largest deportation operation in American history."
Migrants are seen sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on July 31, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Luna, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, also leads the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, a new task force focused on the declassification of federal secrets – including records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other documents in the public interest.
She has also been pressing the Justice Department for the release of classified records related to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
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