For much of the day on Wednesday, four US mayors found themselves under intense questioning from members of Congress about their cities’ sanctuary policies. The mayors — Boston’s Michelle Wu, Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, Denver’s Mike Johnston and New York City’s Eric Adams — relied less on the language of impassioned resistance and more on the sobering reality: Their cities are safer when immigrants, documented or not, feel safe, they said.

Broadly speaking, sanctuary cities are jurisdictions with policies that allow immigrants to live without fear of arrests or deportation. The Trump administration is threatening to withhold federal funding and looking to paint these cities as lawless and dangerous.