Congress, immigration and a lurch toward totalitarianism

[Zorro]

St. Petersburg Rep. Anna Paulina Luna moved to investigate mayors for Congress’ mistakes.

I didn’t mean to write again on immigration this week. This column, however, really isn’t about immigration. It’s about how the issue has come to reflect the tearing of our society.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform drove home the point this month. The Republican-led panel held a session advertised as “A Hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors.” Of course, this wasn’t a hearing at all, but a command performance of bullying, dishonesty, conceit and hypocrisy. After all, sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.

The committee chair, Kentucky Republican James Comer, opened with the premise that the invited mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City were indeed operating illegal havens that only fueled the border crisis. He promised to hold the mayors publicly accountable for their “pro-criminal” policies, setting the table for the committee’s Republican majority to tidily act as prosecutor, judge and jury.

In terms of substance, it was another low bar for a dumbed-down Congress. Republicans painted the mayors as lawless obstacles to border security whose ideological rot endangered their own cities. The mayors countered, insisting their policies on treating arriving migrants humanely were being mischaracterized. As any high school debate team knows, explanations are no match for sharp language and projection. The committee’s ranking Democrat, Virginia’s Gerry Connolly, summed it up accurately: “The premise of this hearing is false,” he said. “The idea that there are sanctuary cities that need to be punished is simply a war on urban America.”

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/03/13/congress-immigration-lurch-toward-totalitarianism-column/