Republicans in Congress Grill Democratic Governors on Immigration
Congressional Republicans on Thursday questioned and criticized three Democratic governors on their states' immigration policies, amplifying national tensions set off by President Trump's hard-line immigration enforcement efforts and his military deployments to California as anti-deportation protests spread across the country.
The acrimony was evident throughout an eight-hour hearing, held by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. All three governors — Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Kathy Hochul of New York — used part of their testimony to condemn the Trump administration for deploying troops to Los Angeles against the wishes of the city's mayor, Karen Bass, and California's governor, Gavin Newsom.
'As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor,' Ms. Hochul said in her opening statement. 'At the outset, I just want to say that this is a clear abuse of power and nothing short of an extraordinary assault on our American values.'
Throughout the contentious hearing, Republican lawmakers focused intently on undocumented immigrants whom the authorities have accused of violent crimes, extrapolating from individual cases to frame the immigration debate as being about lawlessness and criminality.
They tried to needle the governors over policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration agencies or protect undocumented immigrants against detention or deportation.
'Let me be clear: Sanctuary policies don't protect Americans,' said Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, the committee's chairman. 'They protect criminal illegal aliens.'
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