Governor Hochul's Opening Statement to House Committee

Chairman Comer, Ranking Member Lynch, and Members of the Committee, as we speak the streets of an American City have been militarized over the objections of the Governor. This is nothing short of a flagrant abuse of power, an assault on our American values.

My views on immigration are simple and direct — our nation needs secure borders. Our nation needs comprehensive immigration reform from this Congress. Our state laws dictate that we cooperate with ICE in criminal cases. And our values dictate that we treat all law-abiding families with dignity and respect.

The America I believe in is a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants — abandoning either threatens the very foundation on which our great country was built. For 400 years New York has prospered from hard-working newcomers — people like my grandparents who fled poverty in Ireland — they had the same American Dream that immigrant families have today. They’re not here for handouts. They want to work, earn their place and raise their families.

Yet every day we see another story of children ripped from the arms of their mothers. Wives separated from their husbands. Families arrested while attending legal immigration appointments. Not long ago, in the small town of Sackets Harbor, New York masked and armed ICE agents stormed into a home before dawn, abducted a mother and three children — including a third grader. They were cast into a living hell in a detention facility in Texas. I immediately contacted Border Czar Tom Homan and demanded their release.

In Jefferson County, where more than 60 percent of voters supported Donald Trump, people protested in the streets. Local Republican lawmakers, business owners, and school leaders all spoke out. Finally, after nearly two weeks the family was returned home.

In New York, we understand the difference between going after criminals and traumatizing law-abiding families.

Now some will use this hearing to stoke fear but I’m here to give you the facts. New York has managed an unprecedented influx of migrants because of a broken border.

And yet at the same time our state has become stronger and safer.

Today, New York State has the lowest homicide rate among the nation’s ten largest states. We’ve achieved this not with indiscriminate roundups, not by tearing apart innocent families, but by investing over $2.6 billion in public safety. By engaging in smart, targeted policing and by partnering with federal agencies to apprehend and deport serious criminals.

Since I became Governor we’ve cooperated in handing over more than 1,300 convicted criminals to ICE. What we don’t do is enforce civil immigration violations — that’s the federal government’s job.

New Yorkers need their State Troopers seizing guns and drugs and patrolling highways. States like mine are doing our part but we can’t be expected to fix this nation’s broken immigration system.

The very people who go on cable news to rail about ‘chaos at the border’ are the ones who torpedo bipartisan immigration reform each and every time it’s within reach.

So here’s my message: If you truly care about public safety — if you truly care about the economy — if you truly care about human dignity then sit down, negotiate and deliver real reform. Secure the border. Revive legal pathways. Let people work.

At the end of today, I’ll go home and do my job of keeping New Yorkers safe. I hope you’ll do yours too.

Thank you.