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  • 8 months ago
At today's House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) questioned Democratic sanctuary state governors.
Transcript
00:00Joe Light yields back, Chair, and I recognize Mr. Donalds from Florida.
00:04Thank you, Chairman. To piggyback off my colleague, Governor Pritzker, how much does the state of Illinois spend on illegal immigration every year?
00:11Again, illegal immigration, that's a federal responsibility. They could tell how much is wasted as a result of their failures.
00:19Governor, don't you keep track of how many people are on your Medicaid rolls?
00:22How many people who are illegal immigrants in the state of Illinois who are getting actually benefits in your state?
00:28Doesn't your government keep track of that? They don't get Medicaid in Illinois or any state as far as I know.
00:33Governor Pritzker, you do not keep track of any public service dollars in the state of Illinois that goes to illegal immigrants
00:40or goes to people in your state who are not legal residents of the United States and of the state of Illinois. You don't keep track of that?
00:46We absolutely keep track of our budget. We're very closely, and in fact, it's been balanced for seven years in a row, unlike the Republican before me.
00:53You know, it's interesting. I noticed that in a state of Illinois, you guys don't really keep track of your money
00:57because I asked your mayor in Chicago a similar question about a month ago, and he didn't have an answer.
01:03It was quite interesting. I think this might be an Illinois problem.
01:06Governor Hochul, in your state, you are spending roughly $4 billion on illegal immigration,
01:12and at the same time, you are actually asking the federal government for $4 billion to finish Penn Station.
01:18Don't you think it would be better to stop funding illegal immigrants in your state and actually use those resources to finish Penn Station
01:24as opposed to coming to the federal government for the money?
01:30Penn Station is owned by Amtrak, not by the state, so it's an appropriate use of their dollars,
01:36and Donald Trump has agreed to spend upwards of $7 billion. I appreciated that very much.
01:41What we spend on immigrants, the immigrants who are here hardworking to live a life and working on our farms
01:48and taking care of our parents in nursing homes and taking care of our children,
01:52they have been coming here for 400 years, and we don't keep track of individuals based on their status.
01:58We make sure that people have services so we don't end up with an unexpected.
02:03So essentially what you're telling me is that you keep no track of money that is going to people who are not legal in the United States.
02:10Resources that are taken away from New Yorkers, resources that are taken away from Illinoisans.
02:14You guys do not keep track of any of this.
02:16You know what's really challenging is that many people came here with legal status.
02:19I mean temporary protective status, 300,000 men.
02:23All of a sudden they wake up one day and it's gone.
02:25Do you go along with the strategy from the Biden administration which massively expanded immigration protocols
02:31that overwhelmed your city and overwhelmed your state? Do you agree with that?
02:34We call for secure borders. We call for this body to do this job.
02:38I never remember you calling for secure borders at all, Governor Hochul.
02:41We certainly have. We certainly have.
02:42That doesn't sound like him to my memory.
02:43Many conversations I had with the White House. We asked for federal resources.
02:47I mean you're putting a federal problem on our laps and you know what, it gets old after a while.
02:52I wish you would just do your job.
02:53If your party actually would do the job of securing the nation the way President Trump has now had to do twice,
02:59we wouldn't be in this predicament. Wouldn't you agree?
03:02It's a federal job.
03:04Do you agree or disagree that securing the nation's borders is the job of the President of the United States?
03:09President Trump has done that job twice now.
03:11Well.
03:12And previous Democrat presidents have not done that job. Wouldn't you agree with that?
03:16This has been a problem that's been in place since I was a young staffer here on Capitol Hill.
03:20We worked on immigration and Ronald Reagan signed amnesty for three million people.
03:24You know it's interesting you bring up Reagan's amnesty in 86.
03:26You know part of that deal was to actually build border war and secure it.
03:29But the Democrat party refuses to build border war. You oppose it every single time.
03:33Is that your position? Do you now support border walls?
03:36There has been many times when bipartisan legislation is presented to this body and people just walk away from it.
03:42They refuse to do the hard work of governing like governors like us have to do every single day.
03:47When I leave here I'm going to go home and govern a state.
03:50I'm not going to tweet about this experience because I have too much work to do taking care of New Yorkers.
03:54You're really not doing a good job Governor Hochul because a lot of New Yorkers are actually coming into my state.
03:59In Florida. Many of them.
04:00They come all the time.
04:01Because they actually want to come to a state that is well run.
04:03That protects citizens.
04:05Does not allow illegal aliens to victimize citizens like they are victimized in the state of New York.
04:11Like they are victimized in the state of Illinois.
04:13Like they are victimized in the state of Minnesota.
04:15They choose states like Florida and Texas to find safer places to live and raise their families.
04:19Hold on Governor Hochul.
04:20Our crime rates are much lower than yours.
04:22Governor Walz, you've been sitting over there pretty quiet.
04:23I've got a question for you.
04:24I love to talk.
04:26Thank you Congressman.
04:27Fair enough.
04:28You said earlier that the ICE agents under the orders of President Trump are a modern day Gestapo.
04:34Do you realize how disgusting a phrase that is considering the history of Nazi Germany?
04:40Would you like to recant that statement?
04:42What I said Congressman and I have a long history of supporting law enforcement.
04:45I said President Trump was using them as his modern day Gestapo.
04:49Not identifying who you are.
04:51Coming up in unmarked vans.
04:52Taking people away.
04:53And giving.
04:54Is it the responsibility of ICE to actually deport illegal aliens in the United States who are here?
05:00Isn't that their responsibility?
05:01Yes, it is Congressman, except that the Constitution is not an inconvenience.
05:07It's not an either or.
05:08Nobody said an inconvenience.
05:09You can do your job.
05:10You have a responsibility to deport illegal aliens.
05:13And the President is going through that process right now.
05:16And let's be very clear, the previous administration, they abused every process there is under border
05:21laws to allow more than 10 million people into the country illegally.
05:25And this is a burden on all Americans.
05:27And so the President is doing his job.
05:29So it is sick to refer to Americans who are ICE agents as Gestapo.
05:35Governor, you're wrong.
05:37You need to apologize to these agents.
05:39They're doing their jobs.
05:40They are Americans.
05:41They serve this country with honor and decency and respect.
05:45Do not diminish their work simply because you tried to make a cheap point that you could tweet.
05:50I yield back.
05:52Chair now recognizes Ms. Stansberry from New Mexico.
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