Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is one of three Democratic Governors testifying before the House Oversight Committee regarding their state's sanctuary policies on Thursday.
In opening statements, Walz told the committee that Minnesota doesn't have a policy establishing the state as a "sanctuary state."
"But nothing Minnesota has done to serve its own people stands in the way of the federal government managing border security and policies," Walz told the committee. "While you've convened this hearing to explore the issue of so-called sanctuary states, Minnesota is not even a sanctuary state. Minnesota legislature has passed no such bill making Minnesota sanctuary state, and I have signed no such law."
The hearing also includes testimony from Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Kathy Hochul of New York.
When questioning of the three began, there was certainly no love lost between Minnesota Congressman and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R) Walz.
Emmer blasted Walz for about five minutes straight taking exception to a comment the governor made comparing President Trump's ICE Agents to a 'modern day gestapo.'
"You, at the very least, owe an apology to these dedicated public servants," said Emmer who represents Minnesota's Sixth District. "I will say, sir, inflammatory rhetoric such as yours and the other other governors on this panel is responsible for putting a target on the back of every ICE agent who is risking their life to protect our communities."
Emmer told Walz that while he might not consider Minnesota a “sanctuary state," his policies suggest otherwise.
Walz wasn’t given any significant time to respond to Emmer, who left the packed hearing immediately after his grilling of Walz.
"Enforcing immigration law is not the role of local and state governments," Walz told the committee. "The fact is, Congress has given federal agencies the authority to enforce immigration laws across this country. That includes Minnesota, and I support them doing so."
There’s no legal definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, but the term generally refers to governments with policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Courts previously have upheld the legality of such laws.
Despite the state's lack of a formal policy, both Minneapolis and St. Paul are considered sanctuary cities because they restrict how their police and city employees cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and have policies in place that limit cooperation with immigration enforcement.
Trump’s administration has sued Colorado, Illinois, New York and several cities — including Chicago and Rochester, New York — asserting their policies violate the U.S. Constitution or federal law.
Illinois, Minnesota and New York also were among 14 states and hundreds of cities and counties recently listed by the Department of Homeland Security as “sanctuary jurisdictions defying federal immigration law.” The list later was removed from the department’s website after criticism that it errantly included some local governments that support Trump’s immigration policies.
As Trump steps up immigration enforcement, some Democratic-led states have intensified their resistance by strengthening state laws restricting cooperation with immigration agents. Following clashes between crowds of protesters and immigration agents in Los Angeles, Trump deployed the National Guard to protect federal buildings and agents, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump of declaring “a war” on the underpinnings of American democracy.
The House Oversight Committee has long been a partisan battleground, and in recent months it has turned its focus to immigration policy. Thursday’s hearing follows a similar one in March in which the Republican-led committee questioned the Democratic mayors of Chicago, Boston, Denver and New York about sanctuary policies.
Heavily Democratic Chicago has been a sanctuary city for decades. In 2017, then-Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, signed legislation creating statewide protections for immigrants.
The Illinois Trust Act prohibits police from searching, arresting or detaining people solely because of their immigration status. But it allows local authorities to hold people for federal immigration authorities if there’s a valid criminal warrant.
Pritzker, who succeeded Rauner in 2019, said in remarks prepared for the House committee that violent criminals “have no place on our streets, and if they are undocumented, I want them out of Illinois and out of our country.”
“But we will not divert our limited resources and officers to do the job of the federal government when it is not in the best interest of our state, our local communities, or the safety of our residents,” he said.
Pritzker has been among Trump’s most outspoken opponents and is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate. He said Illinois has provided shelter and services to more than 50,000 immigrants who were sent there from other states.
A Department of Justice lawsuit against New York challenges a 2019 law that allows immigrants illegally in the U.S. to receive New York driver's licenses and shields driver’s license data from federal immigration authorities. That built upon a 2017 executive order by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo that prohibited New York officials from inquiring about or disclosing a person’s immigration status to federal authorities, unless required by law.
Hochul's office said law enforcement officers still can cooperate with federal immigration authorities when people are convicted of or under investigation for crimes. Since Hochul took office in 2021, her office said, the state has transferred more than 1,300 incarcerated noncitizens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the completion of their state sentences.
Minnesota doesn’t have a statewide sanctuary law protecting immigrants in the U.S. illegally, though Minneapolis and St. Paul both restrict the extent to which police and city employees can cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Some laws signed by Walz have secured benefits for people regardless of immigration status. But at least one of those is getting rolled back. The Minnesota Legislature, meeting in a special session, passed legislation Monday to repeal a 2023 law that allowed adults in the U.S. illegally to be covered under a state-run health care program for the working poor. Walz insisted on maintaining eligibility for children who aren’t in the country legally.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.