WASHINGTON — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker are being called to DC next month to face a congressional grilling over their states’ pro-migrant policies.
The three Democratic “sanctuary” state leaders will have to answer questions June 12 about how their administrations reduced or banned cooperation with federal immigration authorities under former President Joe Biden.
Republicans argue such policies, which have continued under President Trump, fueled illegal immigration into the country and thwarted deportations of non-citizens by the feds.
“Sanctuary policies only provide sanctuaries for criminal illegal aliens,” said House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), who invited the liberal governors to Capitol Hill for the hearing.
“Former President Biden created the worst border crisis in US history and allowed criminal illegal aliens to flood our communities,” he 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.”
Republicans have often lashed out at blue state leaders and city officials for enabling horrific crimes — such as the murder of Laken Riley — by failing to coordinate on immigration enforcement with the feds and other lax immigration policies.
The first law that Trump signed after returning to the White House was named for the slain Georgia nursing student — and opened localities to lawsuits should they fail to deport migrants charged with theft, assault or other serious crimes causing bodily injury or death.
Riley’s convicted killer Jose Ibarra — an illegal immigrant from Venezuela and suspected member of the violent Tren de Aragua gang — had been arrested for shoplifting just months before her gruesome murder on the University of Georgia campus. He has since been sentenced to life in prison for her slaying.
The Oversight hearing announcement follows a similar panel in March on sanctuary policies with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.
It also follows an executive order by Trump calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to produce a list of cities and states that “obstruct the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
If sanctuary jurisdictions don’t make changes, “the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States,” according to the order.
In March, Bondi announced that the Justice Department was suing New York state over its so-called “Green Light Law” allowing non-citizens obtain driver’s licenses and barring inquiries into their immigration status — unless ordered to do so by a judge.
Those who obtain a license are also tipped off if federal immigration authorities seek access to it.
Illinois and Minnesota have similarly battled against the Trump admin’s immigration policies, with Pritzker and Walz attacking the move to deport migrants illegally present in the country.
“The president has also chosen, and I stress this, chosen, to tear up the values that once made America the shining light of the world,” Walz, who was Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election against Trump, declared in a speech to the Minnesota legislature last month.
“In this land of the free and home of the brave, we have university students being swept up, shoved into unmarked vans, and fathers being tossed into Salvadorian gulags without a hint of due process,” Walz said in his State of the State address.
“I want to be real clear about this. If you say you love freedom, but you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it’s privilege.”
Hochul had previously promised a “list” of crimes that would have eased cooperation for Trump’s mass deportations operation to pick up migrant offenders — but it was never delivered.
Avi Small, her press secretary, said in a statement after the DOJ lawsuit that the governor “has been clear from day one: she supports deporting violent criminals who break our laws, believes that law-abiding families should not be targets, and will coordinate with federal authorities who have a judicial warrant.”
Federal funds were first frozen by Bondi in February for a 60-day review of all “sanctuary jurisdictions” — including New York, which was slated for around $8 billion in funding to city agencies in fiscal year 2025, municipal data show.
Roughly 139,000 illegal immigrants were deported in Trump’s first 100 days, border czar Tom Homan announced last week, while noting that migrant arrests on the US-Mexico border had plummeted to around 11,000 in March, the lowest figure on record.
The Post reached out to reps for Hochul, Walz and Pritzker for comment on the upcoming hearing.
