WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump spars with California’s governor over immigration enforcement, Republicans in Congress called other Democratic governors to the Capitol on Thursday to question them over policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sat in front of large, full-color posters showing men who they said were in the country without legal permission when they were arrested for crimes in Illinois, Minnesota and New York — home of the governors testifying before the committee.
Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer began the hearing by introducing the family of a young woman killed in a hit-and-run traffic crash in Illinois, suggesting its sanctuary policies had facilitated the illegal presence of the driver of the other vehicle.
“Sanctuary polices do not protect Americans, they protect criminal illegal aliens,” Comer said.
Republican lawmakers clashed repeatedly with the Democratic governors, often recounting descriptions of violent crimes allegedly committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally who were not previously detained by local police. The daylong hearing turned into a yelling match at multiple moments, with committee members talking over the top of each other and veering off topic in their questions.