XPost: alt.politics.immigration, alt.politics.republicans, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-republicans-spar- democratic-governors-tense-immigration-hearing-rcna212324

House Republicans clashed with three Democratic governors over immigration policies during a testy hearing Thursday that served as a broader forum
for one of President Donald Trump’s landmark issues amid the breakout of anti-deportation protests in California and across the country.

Over the course of an hourslong hearing convened by the House Oversight Committee on so-called sanctuary state policies, Republican lawmakers repeatedly accused those three blue-state leaders — Govs. Kathy Hochul of
New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota — of bearing responsibility for the deaths and abuse of people who were killed or
assaulted by immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally.

The three governors defended themselves, frequently and forcefully
pointing out that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility —
not a state one — and at times suggested that Republicans on the panel
were creating a political spectacle to impress Trump.

House Democrats led the criticism of Trump directly, with some calling him
a “gangster” or a “dictator” and others lambasting his decision to deploy National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to maintain control
of protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.

Conservatives have said sanctuary laws refer to policies that prevent
local authorities from being compelled to participate in federal
immigration enforcement. Trump has in his second term signed multiple
executive orders that target such cities and states, including one that withholds federal funds.

The hearing got off to a hostile start, with Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the panel's chair, kicking off his opening statement by declaring that the
three governors — as well as other Democratic leaders — were running
“sanctuary cities and states” that were “siding with illegal aliens.”

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., the ranking Democrat on the committee, hit
back in his opening statement by comparing several recent ICE actions to
moves conducted by the “Gestapo” — referring to the secret police in Nazi Germany.

During a particularly tense exchange, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., asked
Hochul, “Do you go along with the strategy from the Biden administration,
which massively expanded immigration protocols that overwhelmed your city
and overwhelmed your state?”

“We call for secure borders,” Hochul interjected, prompting Donalds to
retort, “I never remember you calling for secure borders at all,
governor.”

“You’re putting a federal problem on our laps. And know what? It gets old
after a while,” Hochul responded. “I wish you would just do your job.”

At one point, Walz attempted to take a more conciliatory tone, while also pointing out that immigration enforcement remains a federal duty.

“No one here wants to hear these horrific stories. But we have a job to do
on limited resources,” Walz said. He added that it was a mistake for Republicans to say “that not doing ICE’s job means we’re not cooperating.”

“Nothing we do precludes them from doing their job,” Walz said. “We have
the responsibility of the American public to work together, and I think threatening arrests on elected officials … doesn’t help any of us.” (Trump
has suggested he would support the arrest of California Gov. Gavin Newsom,
a Democrat.)

The hearing also featured numerous distinctly political moments.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who is considering a run for governor of New
York, is not a member of the committee, but Comer allowed several
lawmakers to join in on the questioning. Stefanik used the opportunity to attack Hochul, repeatedly bringing up instances of undocumented immigrants committing crimes in the state, saying that they were emblematic of “Kathy Hochul’s New York.”

“No amount of words is going to clean up your failed record, and these
horrific crimes committed in the sanctuary state that you created,”
Stefanik said.

In what at times resembled potential campaign messaging, Stefanik said,
“We deserve a governor who stands up for law-abiding New Yorkers, who
doesn’t put illegals first, but actually puts New Yorkers first.” Hochul
hit back by saying that Stefanik was simply “going after the viral
moment.”

It was just one of several examples where a questioner on Thursday’s panel
was running for higher office. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., is
running for U.S. Senate, for example, while Donalds and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., are both running for governor in their states next year.

In addition, Walz and Pritzker are viewed as potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates. Both in recent weeks have taken steps to limit government-funded health care coverage for undocumented immigrants, a
potential move to the right on the broader issue of immigration.

The latter half of the hearing featured numerous Democrats seeking to
introduce reports for the record documenting the forcible removal of Sen.
Alex Padilla, D-Calif., from a news conference in Los Angeles after he
tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., repeatedly pressed Comer and other Republicans
to commit to subpoenaing Noem.

“Just shut up,” Comer replied, after moments of back-and-forth yelling.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said “Democrats can’t follow the
rules, can’t follow the law” as Frost continued to demand Comer’s
attention. The hearing took a brief recess after that.

Later in the hearing, Democrats played the clip of the incident.

“I want to say to all of you, all of you on both sides, but particularly
those on the Republican side, that I cannot believe the disrespect that
was shown to a United States senator, who was thrown down, handcuffed and
not allowed to ask a question of our secretary of homeland security,”
Pritzker said.

Earlier, the hearing veered off track numerous times, with Republicans
using the stage to pepper the governors with questions on topics that GOP lawmakers are investigating or that are popular with their conservative
base.

At one point, Comer asked Walz if he’d ever asked former Vice President
Kamala Harris about former President Joe Biden’s “cognitive decline.”

Walz, who ran on the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket with Harris, replied
he had not, triggering Comer to press harder.

At another point, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, asked Pritzker about whether
he thought that “biological men should be able to use women’s restrooms.”

Prtizker eventually replied, “So you’re admitting that this is just a
political circus.”

The three Democratic governors also slammed Trump for calling up the
National Guard to respond to the protests in California, expressing
concern that the move could be replicated in other states.

Pritzker said, “When the president of the United States is calling up your National Guard over the top of local law enforcement, saying that they
don’t need it, that they have things under control, it tends to have an inflaming effect on what’s going on on the ground.”

Hochul, for her part, said Trump’s actions “absolutely undermine the sovereignty of individual states.”

“Undermining confidence in local law enforcement — you’re basically saying
that there’s not a belief that the highly trained individuals of our
municipal police departments ... can handle their jobs,” she said. “This
is an overreach of epic proportions.”


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November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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