Democratic governors defend immigration policies before Republican-led
House panel
[June 13, 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 called
other Democratic governors to the Capitol on Thursday to question them
over policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sat in
front of large, full-color posters showing men who they said were in the
country without legal permission when they were arrested for crimes in
Illinois, Minnesota and New York — home of the governors testifying
before the committee.
Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer began the hearing by introducing the
family of a young woman killed in a hit-and-run traffic crash in
Illinois, suggesting its sanctuary policies had facilitated the illegal
presence of the driver of the other vehicle.
“Sanctuary polices do not protect Americans, they protect criminal
illegal aliens,” Comer said.
Republican lawmakers clashed repeatedly with the Democratic governors,
often recounting descriptions of violent crimes allegedly committed by
immigrants in the U.S. illegally who were not previously detained by
local police. The daylong hearing turned into a yelling match at
multiple moments, with committee members talking over the top of each
other and veering off topic in their questions.
At one point, Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico
interjected to denounce the “theatrics.”
“Welcome everyone to the Oversight reality TV show,” Stansbury said. “I
know Mr. Trump loves himself some good TV, and today is not
disappointing.”
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.
“As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections
of their governor,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “At the outset, I
just want to say that this is a flagrant abuse of power.”
Some of the most fiery exchanges involved Hochul and Republicans from
her home state. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has been named as a
potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate in New York, described instances
in which she said people were raped, molested and burned alive by
immigrants who had entered or remained in the U.S. illegally.
“You are not advocating on behalf of these victims, you are shielding
illegals,” Stefanik said to Hochul while interrupting the governor's
attempted responses.
Hochul said the crimes were “horrific” and “heartbreaking” and insisted
“we cooperate with ICE; we cooperate with law enforcement” in criminal
cases.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov.
Kathy Hochul are sworn in during a House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform hearing, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the U.S.
Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy of New York later implied that
Hochul's policies were partly to blame for the death of University
of Georgia student Laken Riley, who was killed last year by a
Venezuelan man who had entered the U.S. illegally. According to U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the man had been arrested by
New York police in 2023 but was released before ICE could ask New
York officials to hold him.
Pressed further by other Republican questioners, Hochul expressed
sympathy for Riley's family but said “this has nothing to do with
our civil enforcement of the laws.”
Gubernatorial orders prohibit New York officials from inquiring
about or disclosing a person’s immigration status to federal
authorities, unless required by law.
Hochul said law enforcement officers still can cooperate with
federal immigration authorities when people are convicted of or
under investigation for crimes. Since she took office in 2021,
Hochul said the state has initiated the transfer of more than 1,300
incarcerated noncitizens to ICE at the completion of their state
sentences.
“What we don’t do is civil immigration enforcement — that’s the
federal government’s job,” Hochul said.
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.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the first to testify, rejected the
assertion that Minnesota is a sanctuary state. It has no statewide
law protecting immigrants in the U.S. illegally from deportation,
though Minneapolis and St. Paul both restrict the extent to which
police and city employees can cooperate with immigration
enforcement.
“Enforcing immigration law is not the role of local and state
governments,” said Walz, who sent out a political fundraising email
touting his congressional testimony.
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.
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.
Gov. JB Pritzker, who succeeded Rauner in 2019, said 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 among Trump’s most outspoken opponents and is considered a
potential 2028 presidential candidate. “We will not participate in
abuses of power. We will not violate court orders.”
___
Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. Also contributing were
Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, N.Y.; Steve
Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.
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