Plan to skewer US sanctuary city mayors backfires on Republicans

New York, Chicago, Boston and Denver mayors use platform at Capitol hearing to reject claims about crime and gangs

A congressional hearing designed to criticize sanctuary city policies unexpectedly shifted on Wednesday, as a planned attack by Republican lawmakers instead dissolved into a platform that amplified Democratic mayors' arguments about immigration and urban safety.

Before a packed room on Capitol Hill, the House oversight committee, led by its Republican chair, James Comer of Kentucky, sought to portray sanctuary cities - a city that touts municipal laws that protect undocumented migrants - as havens for criminal activity and foreign gangs.