Boston Mayor Wu says she plans to testify before Congress on immigration policies but needs more time

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she plans to comply with a request to testify before a Congressional oversight committee investigating sanctuary city policies, but is asking for time before traveling to D.C. after giving birth.

Wu said Monday that she plans to appear before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, but would like a reprieve from the Feb. 11 hearing date that was included in the invitation letters sent last week to her and other sanctuary city mayors from Denver, New York and Chicago.

“We have been in touch with the Oversight Committee and I have let them know that I do plan to participate and we are taking the request very seriously, in terms of producing information and being responsive,” Wu told reporters. “The timeline is quite fast, especially given my personal circumstance of just having given birth not too long ago, and staying in touch with my doctor of what makes sense from a recovery perspective.”

The mayor gave birth to her third child on Jan. 13 and said standard recovery time is six weeks. She is seeking a different time “that would work better and be more appropriate.”

Wu said she would ideally be able to participate in person at a later date, but wants to “be accommodating and participate however best represents the city.”

“We’re very proud that Boston is the safest major city in the country,” Wu said. “We have a lot to share about what has been working here and we look forward to being able to get into the details of that.”

U.S. Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who chairs the oversight committee, informed the four mayors last week 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.”

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