Demonstrators hold signs and chant during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York, Wednesday.

Demonstrators hold signs and chant during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York, Wednesday, June 11, 2025.

Demonstrators hold signs during a protest against recent immigration raids on the Lake Street-Marshall Bridge on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn.

Attendees listen to a speaker during a protest at Pershing Square, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul are sworn in during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, center, speaks, as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, right, sit nearby during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul attend a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Thursday, June 12, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump spars with California’s governor over immigration enforcement, Republicans in Congress called Gov. Kathy Hochul and 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.

At one point, Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico interjected to denounce the “theatrics.”

“Welcome everyone to the Oversight reality TV show,” Stansbury said. “I know Mr. Trump loves himself some good TV, and today is not disappointing.”

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.

But 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

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