Familiar home-state foes faced off Thursday in Washington as Democratic governors from New York, Minnesota and Illinois testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on their states’ “sanctuary” policies limiting cooperation between federal immigration officers and state law enforcement.
Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York, Tim Walz of Minnesota and JB Pritzker of Illinois had come prepared to weather the onslaught of pointed questions from Republicans, who think their immigration laws are too permissive. But the GOP lawmakers who also hail from these blue states appeared even more ready to twist the knife on longstanding feuds and partisan debates: Several House Republicans who aren’t full-time members of the Oversight Committee waived onto the dais for the explicit purpose of lighting into their governors.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), weighing a bid for Hochul’s job after President Donald Trump yanked her nomination to be United Nations ambassador, excoriated the vulnerable governor expected to face primary and general election challenges in 2026.
“This is Kathy Hochul’s New York. It’s one of the many reasons why you’re hemorrhaging support from hardworking New York families,” Stefanik said as she ticked off the names of undocumented immigrants accused of violent offenses in the state.
“These are horrific crimes, and they’re heartbreaking,” Hochul sought to interject, before Stefanik cut her off: “They’re horrific crimes that are committed on your watch.”
Fellow New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler also waived onto Thursday’s hearing. He, too, is deciding whether to take on Hochul as a gubernatorial candidate next year.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) was also permitted to participate in the proceedings. He used his time to question witnesses to pummel Walz, the 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president, on their state’s approach to working with ICE.
“One reason you’re here testifying before us today is because you refuse to cooperate with ICE while states like Florida and Virginia empower their law enforcement to detain and remove criminal illegal aliens,” Emmer charged.
Walz — like Hochul, whose team predicted that the hearing would be “derailed by wild accusations” — let the scene play itself out as a one-sided conversation by the Republican House member — at least initially.
“Which of the questions do you want me to answer first?” the governor asked before Emmer began talking over him again.
All three governors are defending their leadership as driven by an understanding that immigration is a federal issue; their states do work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on criminal matters; and that the United States is a country of both laws and immigrants.
Republicans, however, are casting their states as cesspools of woke lawlessness as protests against ICE raids grip cities from New York to Los Angeles, where Trump has responded by calling in the National Guard.
It’s all setting the stage for the national discourse around the issue ahead of the 2026 congressional midterms and 2028 presidential election.
