House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., is calling on Democratic Governors JB Pritzker (Illinois), Tim Walz (Minnesota), and Kathy Hochul (New York) to testify before Congress about their states’ immigration policies, according to Politico.
Comer invited the witnesses to give testimony at an upcoming hearing on sanctuary states that limit cooperation between federal immigration officials and local law enforcement.
Last month, the mayors from Boston, New York City, Denver, and Chicago appeared before the committee.
Comer, in a letter to governors obtained by Politico, wrote, “Sanctuary jurisdictions with their obstructionist policies hinder federal law enforcement officers from making safe arrests and removing dangerous criminals from American communities. This is a threat to the safety of Americans.”
Comer asked governors to send him documents on their immigration policies.
Hochul said to reporters on Thursday that she would be willing to testify.
Hochul stated, “We received notification that they were interested in my opinion about state laws. I am happy to share it with them. I told Tom Homan and others that we will continue to do what has been our practice since the beginning: cooperating with ICE when there is a warrant or evidence that a person has committed a serious offense.”
A spokesperson for Pritzker dismissed Comer’s request as “partisan dog-and-pony show” but told Politico that the governor was considering whether or not to testify.
Teddy Tschann said that this was just politics.
Tschann, a Politico reporter, said: “Governor Walz seems happy to be working with Congress. However, since Minnesota isn’t a sanctuary state, one has to wonder if it is perhaps purely political.”