Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says her administration feels “very strongly that we’re on solid legal ground” in being a sanctuary city and is still reviewing a letter it received from Congress on getting called to testify on such policies.

“We feel very strongly that we’re on solid legal ground as we’re following the law every day,” Wu told reporters Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after she and mayors from Denver, New York and Chicago got a request to testify before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on sanctuary city policies.

U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Tenn., chair of the GOP-controlled committee, sent a letter to Wu, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston on Monday, informing them of an ongoing investigation into “sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States and their impact on public safety and the effectiveness of federal efforts to enforce the immigration laws.”

Within the congressional letters, Comer requested “documents and information related to the sanctuary policies of” all four cities and invited each mayor to testify at a public hearing on the matter before the committee on Feb. 11, at 10 a.m.

“Our teams are in touch with many other cities, and I’m in contact with other mayors as well,” Wu said in response to whether she’s communicated with the other mayors since receiving the letter. “We’re all experiencing a lot of the same sense of chaos and destabilization right now whether it’s the threat of federal funds that are legally obligated being pulled away or the sense of fear that’s being created in the communities.”

“At the local level, we’re focused on getting our job done every day,” the mayor added. “Our job is the one that people rely on to get their kids to school, get around the city. We’re looking at the potential for a bit of snow overnight even so that’s our focus, making sure we’re there to serve our residents.”

Comer critiqued sanctuary policies as having a “misguided and obstructionist” effect on public safety.

The letter defined sanctuary jurisdictions as “‘states, counties or cities that put some limits on how much they are willing to cooperate with federal agencies’ efforts to deport’ illegal aliens,” and said there are 12 states and hundreds of cities and counties that do so.

Among the requests, Comer sought any documents related to the cities’ sanctuary status between city employees and local, state, federal or outside entities from Jan. 1, 2024, to the present.

Boston is a sanctuary city under the Trust Act, a 2014 city law that prohibits city police and other departments from cooperating with ICE and federal agencies on civil immigration detainers.

“It seems DC is going to play politics, let them do what they’re doing,” Wu said Tuesday. “We’re going to stay focused on serving our communities here, locally.”

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