Democratic governors on Thursday slammed President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to California amid protests over the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.
“As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul began her testimony at a hearing on Capitol Hill. “At the outset I just want to say that this is a flagrant abuse of power and nothing short of an assault on our American values.”
The hearing is playing out against the backdrop of protests in Los Angeles and cities across the country against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has clashed with Trump over his decision to deploy National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles despite opposition from the state and city’s Democratic leaders.
Thursday’s proceedings on Capitol Hill gave a high-profile platform to some of the Democratic Party’s potential 2028 contenders to craft their response to the Trump administration’s controversial immigration tactics, as the party seeks to calibrate its messaging on issues of crime and public safety.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called it wrong “to deploy the National Guard and active duty Marines into an American city, over the objection of local law enforcement” and “to tear children away from their homes and their mothers and fathers.”
The Illinois governor condemned any violence, but he also delivered a warning to the Trump administration over potential plans to broaden the scope of the immigration crackdown, including the deployment of the National Guard in other states.
“We will not participate in abuses of power. We will not violate court orders. We will not ignore the Constitution. We will not defy the Supreme Court. We will not take away people’s rights to peacefully protest,” Pritzker said.
Hochul, Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are testifying at a hearing focused on “sanctuary state” policies. “Sanctuary” jurisdictions is a broad term referring to jurisdictions with policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement actions, but the term is nebulously defined.
Walz, who noted his state does not have so-called sanctuary legislation guiding enforcement policies, blasted the Trump administration’s “cruel and misguided policies.”
“We have a broken immigration system in this country. I think everyone in this room agrees with that. But nothing Minnesota has done to serve its own people stands in the way of the federal government managing border security and policies,” Walz said.
And each governor laid the blame at Congress’ feet for failing to adequately tackle comprehensive immigration reform.
House Oversight Chair James Comer, meanwhile, criticized the Democratic governors’ approach to immigration enforcement, saying in his opening remarks that “Democrat-run sanctuary cities and states are siding with illegal aliens.”
“For today’s Democrat Party, it seems unlimited illegal immigration isn’t a failure of policy – it is the policy. And that agenda is being pushed at every level of government,” he continued.
The Democratic governors explained the way their states cooperate with ICE on criminal enforcement, but Republicans have pushed for state and local officials to cooperate in all immigration enforcement matters.
Gov. Hochul, Rep. Stefanik clash over immigration policies in potential preview of 2026 NY gov race
Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik clashed sharply with Hochul during the hearing, providing a potential preview of next year’s gubernatorial race in the Empire State with the congresswoman eyed as a top possible GOP contender.
New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, whose name is also in the mix as a potential GOP gubernatorial candidate, also briefly appeared at the hearing even though he does not sit on the committee. Stefanik also does not sit on the panel.
The clash came as Stefanik questioned Hochul over New York’s sanctuary policies for undocumented immigrants, pressing her repeatedly to recall details of what the congresswoman claimed were violent crimes committed by migrants in New York City during the governor’s administration.
“Do you know who Sebastian Zapeta-Calil is?” Stefanik asked Hochul at one point.
“I’m sure you’ll tell me,” Hochul said, when Stefanik cut in again. “These are high-profile cases, New Yorkers know about them and you don’t – so let’s talk about Sebastian Zapeta-Calil. Do you know who that is?” she asked, referencing a high-profile case of subway violence from late last year in which an undocumented migrant was accused of setting fire to a woman who was asleep while riding a New York City train.
“I don’t have the specific details at my disposal, no,” Hochul answered.
After describing the case, Stefanik said, “This is in Kathy Hochul’s New York.”
“These crimes are horrific, I condemn them, and I would say – in all of these cases we would work with ICE to remove them,” Hochul said.
CNN reported in January that Zapeta-Calil, 33, an undocumented migrant from Guatemala, pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the death of Debrina Kawam, 57.
Zapeta-Calil repeatedly told detectives he had no memory of the attack. Then, investigators played surveillance video that allegedly caught him igniting the flames. “Oh, damn, that’s me,” Zapeta-Calil said during questioning with police that was transcribed and translated, according to court documents. “I am very sorry. I didn’t mean to. But I really don’t know. I don’t know what happened, but I’m very sorry for that woman,” Zapeta-Calil told police.
Governors weigh in on how they would handle threat of arrest
Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost asked each of the governors how they would handle potential arrests by the federal government, as he decried Trump having endorsed the idea of arresting California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“If Tom Homan comes to Albany to arrest me, I’ll say go for it. You can’t intimidate a governor,” Hochul said, referring to the White House border czar. “We’re here on the frontlines every day, fighting to defend our rights, our values, and the public safety of our residents. And so, anything threatening our responsibility is an assault on our democracy, nothing short of that.”
“If Tom Homan were to come to try to arrest us, me, rather, I could say first of all that he can try,” Pritzker said. “I can also tell you that I will stand in the way of Tom Homan going after people who don’t deserve to be frightened in their communities, who don’t deserve to be threatened, terrorized – I would rather that he came and arrested me than do that to the people of my state.”
“I didn’t realize how much animosity there is here – we have a responsibility to the American public to work together. And I think threatening arrests on elected officials, congressman, it doesn’t help any of us,” said Walz. “And Gov. Pritzker is right – our citizens are scared and angry and it’s not necessary. We can fix this with a bipartisan border bill, help us out.”
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