00:00Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, members of the committee, good morning, and thank you for inviting me.
00:09As governor of the great state of Illinois, I have seen firsthand how states have had to shoulder the consequences of a broken immigration system.
00:19I'm proud of how we have responded by promoting public safety, treating people with dignity, supporting our economy, and respecting the rule of law.
00:31Safe and compassionate immigration policies, I believe, are vital.
00:36In fact, my own family owes everything to this country excepting a young refugee named Nicholas Pritzker to its shores over a century ago.
00:46My great-grandfather fled the massacre of Jews in Ukraine and arrived in the United States when he was just 10, without a penny to his name.
00:56A social service agency provided him a place to live.
00:59A public school taught him English.
01:02A public university allowed him to pursue a higher education.
01:05My father and grandfather both were naval officers and raised their families with a powerful sense of duty to community and patriotism to our country.
01:16That still lives deep in my generation.
01:19Both were successful entrepreneurs.
01:22My family story is not unique.
01:25Today, Illinois is home to 1.9 million immigrants.
01:29Just like my great-grandfather, they are hardworking, raising families, and paying taxes.
01:35Our state and our country have been strengthened by people from across the globe seeking freedom, opportunity, and refuge here.
01:45Recently, children, pregnant women, and others fled poverty, violence, and persecution, seeking asylum at our border.
01:55Some border state politicians chose to treat them as political pawns, busing them to states like mine and dropping them off in the dead of night in the freezing cold.
02:06Illinois chose a different path.
02:08Faced with a humanitarian crisis, our state made sure children and families did not go hungry or freeze to death.
02:16By doing so, we helped to maintain safety and order in Chicago.
02:21As governor, one of my responsibilities is to keep the public safe.
02:26That is why I expanded our state police, banned assault weapons and ghost guns to take guns out of the hands of criminals, and invested more than ever before in violence prevention.
02:38As a result, violent crime is down in Illinois, and Chicago ended 2024 with its lowest homicide rate in five years.
02:47As I have consistently 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.
02:57And as we are reminded in Los Angeles this week, we can all agree that violence of any kind, whomever it is directed at, is unacceptable.
03:08People must be held accountable to the law.
03:11Illinois follows the law, but let me be clear.
03:13We expect the federal government to follow the law, too.
03:16We will not participate in abuses of power.
03:19We will not violate court orders.
03:21We will not ignore the Constitution.
03:24We will not defy the Supreme Court.
03:27We will not take away people's rights to peacefully protest.
03:31We also respect, and expect this administration to respect, the traditions and legal precedent that dictate how and when our National Guard and military are deployed.
03:42As governor, I have had to make the difficult decision to call the Illinois National Guard into service.
03:48I have always done it in partnership with my local governments and law enforcement, and with deep and abiding respect for the sacrifice I was asking of our volunteer armed forces.
04:00It's wrong to deploy the National Guard and active duty Marines into an American city over the objection of local law enforcement, just to inflame a situation and create a crisis.
04:14Just as it's wrong to tear children away from their homes and their mothers and fathers who have spent decades living and working in our communities, raising their families.
04:24Besides being a father and husband, the greatest honor of my life has been serving as governor.
04:30I believe with my whole heart that Illinois is the best place in the country to live, work, and to raise a family.
04:38Illinoisans take seriously their responsibility in upholding the most fundamental values of our nation, values like kindness, empathy, hard work, and fair play.
04:50Our people embody the most American ideal of all.
04:53That where your life began matters far less than the dreams you can realize here for yourself and your family.
05:02Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
05:04Chair now recognizes Governor Hochul for her opening statement.
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