WASHINGTON — As President Trump spars with California’s governor over immigration enforcement, Republicans in Congress referred to as different Democratic governors to the Capitol on Thursday to query them over insurance policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Members of the Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform sat in entrance of huge, full-color posters displaying males who they stated have been within the nation with out authorized permission after they have been arrested for crimes in Illinois, Minnesota and New York — dwelling of the governors testifying earlier than the committee.
Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) started the listening to by introducing the household of a younger lady killed in a hit-and-run visitors crash in Illinois, suggesting its sanctuary insurance policies had facilitated the unlawful presence of the motive force of the opposite automobile.
“Sanctuary polices do not protect Americans, they protect criminal illegal aliens,” Comer stated.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are sworn in throughout a Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform listening to, Thursday, June 12, 2025, on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Picture/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Republican Congress members clashed repeatedly with the Democratic governors, typically recounting descriptions of violent crimes allegedly dedicated by immigrants within the U.S. illegally who weren’t beforehand detained by native police.
At one level, Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury, of New Mexico, interjected to denounce the “theatrics.”
“Welcome everyone to the Oversight reality TV show,” Stansbury stated. “I know Mr. Trump loves himself some good TV, and today is not disappointing.”
There’s no authorized definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, however the time period usually refers to governments with insurance policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Courts beforehand have upheld the legality of such legal guidelines.
However Trump’s administration has sued Colorado, Illinois, New York and a number of other cities — together with Chicago and Rochester, New York — asserting their insurance policies violate the U.S. Structure or federal regulation.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul attend a Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform listening to, Thursday, June 12, 2025, on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Picture/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Illinois, Minnesota and New York additionally have been amongst 14 states and a whole lot of cities and counties not too long ago listed by the Division of Homeland Safety as “sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law.” The record later was faraway from the division’s web site after criticism that it errantly included some native governments that help Trump’s immigration insurance policies.
“As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor,” New York Gov. Hochul stated. “At the outset, I just want to say that this is a flagrant abuse of power.”
Among the most fiery exchanges concerned Hochul and Republicans from her dwelling state. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has been named as a possible 2026 gubernatorial candidate in New York, described cases during which she stated folks have been raped, molested and burned alive by immigrants who had entered or remained within the U.S. illegally.
“You are not advocating on behalf of these victims, you are shielding illegals,” Stefanik stated to Hochul whereas interrupting the governor’s tried responses.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., questions New York Gov. Kathy Hochul throughout a Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform listening to, Thursday, June 12, 2025, on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Picture/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Hochul stated the crimes have been “horrific” and “heartbreaking” and insisted “we cooperate with ICE; we cooperate with law enforcement” in legal instances.
Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy, of New York, later implied that Hochul’s insurance policies have been partly responsible for the dying of College of Georgia scholar Laken Riley, who was killed final 12 months by a Venezuelan man who had entered the U.S. illegally. Based on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the person had been arrested by New York police in 2023 however was launched earlier than ICE might ask New York officers to carry him.
Pressed additional by different Republican questioners, Hochul expressed sympathy for Riley’s household however stated “this has nothing to do with our civil enforcement of the laws.”
Gubernatorial orders prohibit New York officers from inquiring about or disclosing an individual’s immigration standing to federal authorities, until required by regulation.
Hochul stated regulation enforcement officers nonetheless can cooperate with federal immigration authorities when individuals are convicted of or beneath investigation for crimes. Since she took workplace in 2021, Hochul stated the state has initiated the switch of greater than 1,300 incarcerated noncitizens to ICE on the completion of their state sentences.
“What we don’t do is civil immigration enforcement — that’s the federal government’s job,” Hochul stated.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks throughout a Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform listening to, Thursday, June 12, 2025, on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Picture/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The Home Oversight Committee has lengthy been a partisan battleground, and in latest months it has turned its focus to immigration coverage. Thursday’s listening to follows an identical one in March during which the Republican-led committee questioned the Democratic mayors of Chicago, Boston, Denver and New York about sanctuary insurance policies.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the primary to testify, rejected the assertion that Minnesota is a sanctuary state. It has no statewide regulation defending immigrants within the U.S. illegally from deportation, although Minneapolis and St. Paul each limit the extent to which police and metropolis staff can cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Some legal guidelines signed by Walz have secured advantages for folks no matter immigration standing. However not less than a type of is getting rolled again. The Minnesota Legislature, assembly in a particular session, handed laws Monday to repeal a 2023 regulation that allowed adults within the U.S. illegally to be lined beneath a state-run well being care program for the working poor. Walz insisted on sustaining eligibility for youngsters who aren’t within the nation legally,
Closely Democratic Chicago has been a sanctuary metropolis for many years. In 2017, then-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed laws creating statewide protections for immigrants. The Illinois Belief Act prohibits police from looking, arresting or detaining folks solely due to their immigration standing. Nevertheless it permits native authorities to carry folks for federal immigration authorities if there’s a legitimate legal warrant.
Gov. JB Pritzker, who succeeded Rauner in 2019, stated that violent criminals “have no place on our streets, and if they are undocumented, I want them out of Illinois and out of our country.”
“Illinois follows the law. But let me be clear, we expect the federal government to follow the law, too,” added Pritzker, who has been amongst Trump’s most outspoken opponents and is taken into account a possible 2028 presidential candidate. “We will not participate in abuses of power. We will not violate court orders.”
Initially Revealed: June 12, 2025 at 4:20 PM EDT
