Democratic governors defend immigration policies before Republican-led House panel

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump spars with California's governor over immigration enforcement, Republicans in Congress called 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 declaring “a war” on the underpinnings of American democracy.

“As we speak, an American city has been militarized over the objections of their governor,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “At the outset, I just want to say that this is a flagrant abuse of power.”

Some of the most fiery exchanges involved Hochul and Republicans from her home state. Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has been named as a potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate in New York, described instances in which she said people were raped, molested and burned alive by immigrants who had entered or remained in the U.S. illegally.

“You are not advocating on behalf of these victims, you are shielding illegals,” Stefanik said to Hochul while interrupting the governor's attempted responses.

Hochul said the crimes were “horrific” and “heartbreaking” and insisted “we cooperate with ICE; we cooperate with law enforcement” in criminal cases.

Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy of New York later implied that Hochul's policies were partly to blame for the death of University of Georgia student Laken Riley, who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man who had entered the U.S. illegally. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the man had been arrested by New York police in 2023 but was released before ICE could ask New York officials to hold him.

Pressed further by other Republican questioners, Hochul expressed sympathy for Riley's family but said “this has nothing to do with our civil enforcement of the laws.”

Gubernatorial orders prohibit New York officials from inquiring about or disclosing a person’s immigration status to federal authorities, unless required by law.

Hochul said law enforcement officers still can cooperate with federal immigration authorities when people are convicted of or under investigation for crimes. Since she took office in 2021, Hochul said the state has initiated the transfer of more than 1,300 incarcerated noncitizens to ICE at the completion of their state sentences.

“What we don’t do is civil immigration enforcement — that’s the federal government’s job,” Hochul said.

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.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the first to testify, rejected the assertion that Minnesota is a sanctuary state. It has no statewide law protecting immigrants in the U.S. illegally from deportation, though Minneapolis and St. Paul both restrict the extent to which police and city employees can cooperate with immigration enforcement.

“Enforcing immigration law is not the role of local and state governments,” said Walz, who sent out a political fundraising email touting his congressional testimony.

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.

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.

Gov. JB Pritzker, who succeeded Rauner in 2019, said violent criminals “have no place on our streets, and if they are undocumented, I want them out of Illinois and out of our country.”

“Illinois follows the law. But let me be clear, we expect the federal government to follow the law too,” added Pritzker, who has been among Trump’s most outspoken opponents and is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate. “We will not participate in abuses of power. We will not violate court orders.”

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Mo. Also contributing were Associated Press writers Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, N.Y.; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.

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. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attendees listen to a speaker during a protest at Pershing Square, Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Demonstrators hold signs during a protest against recent immigration raids on the Lake Street-Marshall Bridge on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

Demonstrators hold signs and chant during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Demonstrators hold signs and chant during a protest against deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.

Weir's death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He'd spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”

In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.

“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.

Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead's youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.

The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.

“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys' Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”

FILE - Bob Weir plays guitar with his band The Dead, formerly the Grateful Dead, at the Forum in the Inglewood section of Los Angeles, Calif. on Saturday May 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel,File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows members of the Grateful Dead band, from left to right, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Brent Mydland, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Kennedy Center Honors recipients from left; filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary American rock band the Grateful Dead band members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann Bob Weir and blues rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Bonnie Raitt, applaud at at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors reception in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta,File)

FILE - Bob Weir arrives at Willie Nelson 90, celebrating the singer's 90th birthday on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. (Photo by Allison Dinner/Invision/AP,File)

FILE - Bob Weir of Dead & Company performs at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Manchester, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP,File)