Democratic governors will defend immigration policies before
Republican-led House panel
[June 12, 2025]
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and DAVID A. LIEB
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump spars with California's
governor over immigration enforcement, Republicans in Congress are
calling other Democratic governors to the Capitol on Thursday to
question them over policies limiting cooperation with federal
immigration authorities.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform posted a video
ahead of the hearing highlighting crimes allegedly committed by
immigrants in the U.S. illegally and pledging that “sanctuary state
governors will answer to the American people."
The hearing is to include testimony from Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois,
Tim Walz of Minnesota and Kathy Hochul of New York.
There’s no legal definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, but the term
generally refers to governments with policies limiting cooperation with
federal immigration authorities. Courts previously have upheld the
legality of such laws.
But Trump’s administration has sued Colorado, Illinois, New York and
several cities — including Chicago and Rochester, New York — asserting
their policies violate the U.S. Constitution or federal law.
Illinois, Minnesota and New York also were among 14 states and hundreds
of cities and counties recently listed by the Department of Homeland
Security as “sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law.”
The list later was removed from the department’s website after criticism
that it errantly included some local governments that support Trump’s
immigration policies.
As Trump steps up immigration enforcement, some Democratic-led states
have intensified their resistance by strengthening state laws
restricting cooperation with immigration agents. Following clashes
between crowds of protesters and immigration agents in Los Angeles,
Trump deployed the National Guard to protect federal buildings and
agents, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump of declaring “a
war” on the underpinnings of American democracy.
The House Oversight Committee has long been a partisan battleground, and
in recent months it has turned its focus to immigration policy.
Thursday’s hearing follows a similar one in March in which the
Republican-led committee questioned the Democratic mayors of Chicago,
Boston, Denver and New York about sanctuary policies.
Heavily Democratic Chicago has been a sanctuary city for decades. In
2017, then-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed legislation
creating statewide protections for immigrants.
The Illinois Trust Act prohibits police from searching, arresting or
detaining people solely because of their immigration status. But it
allows local authorities to hold people for federal immigration
authorities if there’s a valid criminal warrant.
Pritzker, who succeeded Rauner in 2019, said in remarks prepared for the
House committee 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.”
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Demonstrators hold signs and chant during a protest against
deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York,
Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
“But we will not divert our limited resources and officers to do the
job of the federal government when it is not in the best interest of
our state, our local communities, or the safety of our residents,”
he said.
Pritzker has been among Trump’s most outspoken opponents and is
considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate. He said Illinois
has provided shelter and services to more than 50,000 immigrants who
were sent there from other states.
A Department of Justice lawsuit against New York challenges a 2019
law that allows immigrants illegally in the U.S. to receive New York
driver's licenses and shields driver’s license data from federal
immigration authorities. That built upon a 2017 executive order by
then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo that prohibited New York officials from
inquiring about or disclosing a person’s immigration status to
federal authorities, unless required by law.
Hochul's office said law enforcement officers still can cooperate
with federal immigration authorities when people are convicted of or
under investigation for crimes. Since Hochul took office in 2021,
her office said, the state has transferred more than 1,300
incarcerated noncitizens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
at the completion of their state sentences.
Minnesota doesn’t have a statewide sanctuary law protecting
immigrants in the U.S. illegally, though Minneapolis and St. Paul
both restrict the extent to which police and city employees can
cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Some laws signed by Walz have secured benefits for people regardless
of immigration status. But at least one of those is getting rolled
back. The Minnesota Legislature, meeting in a special session,
passed legislation Monday to repeal a 2023 law that allowed adults
in the U.S. illegally to be covered under a state-run health care
program for the working poor. Walz insisted on maintaining
eligibility for children who aren’t in the country legally,
___
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. Also contributing were
Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, N.Y.; Steve
Karnowski in St. Paul, Minn.; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.
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