Lawmakers Demand Dem Governors Explain ‘Reckless’ Policies Impeding Trump’s Immigration Agenda

Three Democratic governors are set to testify before the House Oversight Committee next month as they face questions about state policies that inhibit federal immigration enforcement.

The House Oversight Committee said Tuesday that Governors JB Pritzker of Illinois, Kathy Hochul of New York, and Tim Walz of Minnesota will appear on June 12 to testify about immigration enforcement in their states. As the Trump administration has promised mass deportations, Democratic officials across the country have indicated that they will not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security.

“Sanctuary policies only provide sanctuaries for criminal illegal aliens. Former President Biden created the worst border crisis in U.S. history and allowed criminal illegal aliens to flood our communities. President Trump has ended this crisis and now we have the most secure borders in decades,” House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) said.

“The Trump Administration is taking decisive action to deport criminal illegal aliens from our nation but reckless sanctuary states like Illinois, Minnesota, and New York are actively seeking to obstruct federal immigration enforcement,” he added. “The governors of these states must explain why they are prioritizing the protection of criminal illegal aliens over the safety of U.S. citizens, and they must be held accountable.”

Illinois has been a sanctuary state since 2017, when then-Governor Bruce Rauner (R) signed the Illinois Trust Act, which blocked local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement actions. In New York, state agencies are not allowed to work with ICE, and a state court ruled that neither state nor local law enforcement should hold illegal immigrants at ICE’s request.

Legislation to make Minnesota a sanctuary state has failed in recent years despite pushes from Walz and the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.

“My position on Minnesota becoming a sanctuary state boils down to who has the responsibility for enforcing immigration laws,” Walz said in 2018. “The role of law enforcement is to enforce state and local laws, not federal immigration laws, and I strongly believe that they should not do so.”

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), there are currently eleven “sanctuary states,” including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, in addition to the District of Columbia.

The hearing with the governors follows one in April, where the House Oversight Committee also questioned the mayors of sanctuary cities like Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York.