WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Three prominent Democratic U.S. governors face a grilling on Thursday from a Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives panel over immigration policy, as President Donald Trump steps up a crackdown on people living in the country illegally.
The governors of New York, Illinois and Minnesota are due to testify to the House Oversight Committee following days of protests in downtown Los Angeles over the Trump administration’s aggressive ramping up of arrests of migrants.
Tensions escalated as Trump ordered the National Guard and Marines into California to provide additional security.
Trump’s immigration crackdown has become a major political flashpoint between the White House and national Democrats. California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, seen as a contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028, in a Tuesday night video speech accused Trump of choosing “theatrics over public safety.”
Minnesota’s Tim Walz, who ran unsuccessfully for vice president last year; Illinois’ JB Pritzker, also seen a 2028 hopeful, and New York’s Kathy Hochul, walked a careful line in their prepared testimony for Thursday’s hearing, voicing support for immigration enforcement, if not Trump’s tactics.
“If they are undocumented, we want them out of Illinois and out of our country,” Pritzker said.
At the same time, Pritzker lashed out against “any violations of the law or abuses of power” and said, “Law-abiding, hardworking, tax-paying people who have been in this country for years should have a path to citizenship.”
Reuters/Ipsos polls show Trump getting more support for his handling of immigration than any other policy area.
“Minnesota is not a sanctuary state,” Walz proclaimed, adding that state officials cooperate with federal immigration authorities, while noting that it offers “respect” to cities and counties that choose to give no more than the legal minimum support to the Department of Homeland Security.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; editing by Scott Malone and Sandra Maler)
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