The three must explain to the House committee the state’s immigration policy and cooperation with federal enforcement.
The three Democrat governors will testify in front of House members next month on the state’s sanctuary policy.
government. JB Pritzker, Tim Walz, and Kathy Hochul of Illinois, Minnesota and New York are expected to provide testimony on June 12th.
According to Speaker James Comer (R-KY.), the three must explain immigration policies and cooperation with federal immigration enforcement against the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
Comer began researching Sanctuary Cities in January. Sanctuary jurisdictions are defined as states, counties, or cities that restrict cooperation with efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
“The Trump administration is taking critical action to deport unlawful foreigners from our country, but reckless sanctuary states like Illinois, Minnesota and New York are actively urging them to block federal immigration enforcement,” Comer wrote in a May 6 statement. “The governors of these states must explain why they prioritize protection of illegal criminal aliens over the safety of US citizens, and they must be accountable.”
NTD called Pritzker’s Office to make a statement and confirmation of attendees, but did not receive an immediate response. NTD also contacted Hochul and Walz’s press offices via email, but did not receive a response per publication time.
This is the second group of leaders summoned to Washington to testify on the sanctuary policy. The House Committee held a March 5 hearing on the city’s sanctuary policy with Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York Mayor Eric Adams. According to Comer, the mayor refused to change policies that would hinder federal immigration authorities’ efforts to eliminate criminal foreigners from the United States.
However, Adams has previously suggested that he will work more with federal agencies. Earlier this year, the Mayor of New York reached an agreement with the Trump administration to reestablish immigration offices at the state’s infamous Rikers Island prison.
“We should communicate with ice (immigration and customs enforcement), and if ice makes a decision to deport, they should,” Adams said. “The mere fact that this person committed three robberies, that this person cannot share with the ice that he is part of an organized gang crew member, that he cannot even convey that he says that, that’s the problem for me.”
Rep. Jerry Connolly (D-Va.), a top Democrat on the panel, said House hearings are taking place with the governor’s trio as Republicans failed their first hearing with the mayor’s cohort.
“Commer and the Republican Chairman were unable to get the ‘gotcha moment’ they wanted at the March hearing. There, Democrats and Democratic mayors cried out the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans for cruel and lawless attacks on immigrants, children and their families,” Connolly wrote in a statement.
House Supervisor Democrats welcomed the opportunity to fight for humanitarian immigration policies and claimed that the Trump administration has enforced a cruel, extremist agenda that only undermines the country’s security.
The House hearing is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration and criminal activity. Trump pledged to carry out the largest massive deportation in US history in the 2024 presidential election. There have been 139,000 deportations since President Trump took office, according to the White House.
The president has signed an executive order calling on Attorney General Pam Bondy and Secretary of Homeland Security Christa Noem to create a list of cities and states that “obstruct federal immigration law enforcement.”
In addition to the so-called “sanctuary governor,” others who play famous roles have been accused of pushing back federal immigration enforcement. In one case, a Wisconsin judge was accused of helping illegal immigrants avoid ice agents in court. The judge is accused of hiding an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest, and prevent him from obstructing or obstructing the case. In another case, a former New Mexico judge and his wife were arrested and charged with harboring members of a suspected Venezuelan crime gang.
