The political battle over New York’s immigration policies burst into the national spotlight as Governor Kathy Hochul faced a blistering round of questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik during a congressional hearing into “sanctuary state” policies, which Republicans say dictate New York’s refusal to fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Stefanik, a top House Republican and likely contender for the 2026 New York gubernatorial race, unleashed a wave of pointed questions, citing a series of violent crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants that she blamed directly on Hochul’s executive actions.
“You are shielding illegals,” Stefanik charged in a tense exchange that saw the governor repeatedly try to push back. “These horrific crimes are happening in your New York, a five-year-old girl raped, a woman burned alive because of your failed sanctuary state policies.”
The hearing, convened by the House Oversight Committee, examined how Democrat-led states such as New York, Illinois, and Minnesota have implemented policies that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies. The Republican-led panel sought to pin rising public safety concerns on Democratic sanctuary laws, setting the stage for a 2026 campaign cycle likely to be dominated by immigration and law-and-order messaging.
In Albany, members of the Assembly Republican Conference were quick to slam Hochul’s testimony as evasive and out of touch with the suffering endured by communities grappling with the influx of illegal migrants.
“Gov. Hochul’s testimony was nothing more than a desperate attempt to defend the indefensible,” said Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano. “Her sanctuary state policies have failed New Yorkers. Under her leadership, our state has become a magnet for lawlessness, where dangerous individuals slip through the cracks and local communities are left to deal with the consequences.”
DeStefano cited a now-infamous case involving Sakir Akkan, a Turkish national who entered the U.S. illegally and later raped a 15-year-old girl in Albany. Akkan was initially released with a court ticket after a traffic stop, a decision that critics say stems directly from sanctuary state protections.
“New Yorkers deserve answers, not talking points,” DeStefano said. “Our law enforcement agencies are overwhelmed, local services are stretched to the breaking point, and taxpayers are footing the bill for a crisis this governor refuses to admit she caused.”
Among the inquiries Hochul struggled to directly address were several raised by Stefanik and outlined by the state’s Republican delegation:
- Why didn’t Hochul revoke New York’s sanctuary status during the height of the migrant crisis?
- How were incoming migrants vetted for public safety risks, including gang or terror affiliations?
- Why did the governor extend Executive Order One — reinforcing sanctuary protections — three times, even as violent incidents involving illegal immigrants piled up?
The governor, while condemning the crimes as “horrific,” insisted that her administration does cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in criminal matters.
“We’ve handed over more than 1,300 convicted criminals to ICE since I took office,” Hochul said, adding that state troopers are focused on serious threats like gun trafficking and drug smuggling, not civil immigration enforcement. “We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Abandoning either is a threat to our democracy.”
But Stefanik wasn’t buying it. “You don’t even know the names of these criminals—you didn’t recognize them when I brought them up,” she charged, referencing other high-profile cases involving violent crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. “New Yorkers do know their names. And they know who’s to blame.”
The Republican Conference’s formal letter to the Oversight Committee included a list of demands for clarity on how taxpayer funds were used to support illegal immigrants and what vetting measures were in place to ensure the safety of New York citizens. Hochul and the Democrats who control the state legislature budgeted $2.4 billion for migrant services this year, having spent $1.3 billion last year.
DeStefano emphasized that sanctuary policies don’t just pose a theoretical risk—they’re having real consequences for suburban and rural communities unprepared to handle the scale of recent migrant arrivals.
“Whether it’s school districts having to absorb non-English speaking students or volunteer EMS squads getting overwhelmed with calls, it’s all coming back to the policies set by this governor,” he said. “And she had the gall to go down to Washington and pretend like she’s a bystander in all of this.”
In her prepared remarks, Hochul cast herself as a leader caught in the middle of a federal failure. “New York has managed an unprecedented influx of migrants because of a broken border,” she said. “States like mine are doing our part, but we can’t be expected to fix this nation’s broken immigration system.”
She took a swipe at House Republicans, accusing them of “torpedoing bipartisan immigration reform every time it’s within reach,” obviously ignoring the actions of President Trump in shutting down the border during his first weeks in office. Critics have long charged that the Democrats loading up communities with illegal immigrants is part of their long-range plan to harvest new voters.
Hochul’s deflection didn’t sit well with Stefanik, who pointed to Hochul’s record of executive orders and state-level obstruction of ICE as the root cause of rising crime.
“You want to blame everyone but yourself,” Stefanik said. “But the American people, and the people of New York, see through it.”
For political observers, the hearing served as an unofficial preview of a 2026 gubernatorial matchup. Stefanik’s command of the moment, combined with her tough-on-crime message and fluency in local cases, left many wondering whether Hochul might be more vulnerable than Democrats expect against a Republican candidate in a heavily leaning Blue state.
“I wouldn’t want to be Governor Hochul heading into next year with this record,” DeStefano said. “She owns this crisis. And the people of New York won’t forget it.”
As the hearing concluded, Stefanik had one final message: “New Yorkers need a governor who puts them first. Not criminals. Not illegals. Just law-abiding citizens who deserve to feel safe in their homes again.”