WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Elise Stefanik and Gov. Kathy Hochul faced off over New York’s migrant crisis during a fiery congressional hearing on sanctuary policies — as the congresswoman stumped the governor in questions about high-profile migrant crimes.
Stefanik (R-NY) — who is eyeing a run against Hochul in the 2026 election — pressed the Democratic governor for the name of a Guatemalan man in the country illegally who is accused of torching a woman to death on a Brooklyn F train last December.
“Do you know who Sebastian Zapeta-Calil is,” Stefanik asked.
“I’m sure you’ll tell me,” Hochul replied. “There’s many cases.”
“These are high-profile cases. New Yorkers know about them and you don’t?” Stefanik shot back.
Stefanik also grilled Hochul on Wilson Castillo Diaz, a migrant accused of raping a 5-year-old, and Raymond Rojas Basilio, a migrant accused of molesting an 11-year-old in Queens.
Hochul didn’t recognize those two either.
Hochul appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform alongside fellow Democrats, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The New York gov was also put on blast by firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who drilled her over a Jesus Romero-Hernandez, a Mexican migrant released from upstate Tompkins County’s jail by the local sheriffs department despite ICE having a judicial warrant for his arrest.
“A court order and a detainer for a guy who did the things Mr. Hernandez did and Tompkins County can’t hold him an hour and 18 minutes and you won’t say that’s wrong?,” Jordan asked.
“I have said, we cooperate when there’s a criminal case for some of this committed a crime,” Hochul replied.
Hochul said the state has helped US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement remove over 1,300 criminal migrants since she became governor in 2021.
But Hochul repeatedly refused to say if Tompkins County, which has its own policy against cooperating with ICE, was wrong not to hold Romero-Hernandez an additional hour before the feds arrived. The suspect pleaded guilty to assault charges but walked despite a federal deportation order.
“That was a horrible situation. The person should not have been out there,” Hochul replied.
Hochul renewed the state’s controversial sanctuary policy, first defined under an executive order by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It bars state employees from asking about someone’s immigration status other than in situations such as criminal investigations.
Many localities around the state such as New York City have their own, often more rigorous, sanctuary policies.
Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) blamed New York’s policies for releasing Jose Antonio Ibarra, who murdered 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley a year after he was set free on child endangerment charges in New York City.
Langworthy blasted the Green Light Law, which allows undocumented immigrants to receive a driver’s license and blocks the state from sharing information about those people with the feds without a warrant. He also cited bail reforms that limit judges’ discretion to set cash bail for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies.
“Your bail reform law is the reason Laken Riley is dead,” Langworthy accused.
“It’s just, it’s beyond belief. This is denial and excuses, governor,” he added.
Another potential gubernatorial challenger, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) also drilled into and once-again-non-committal Hochul asking whether she’d sign legislation to enshrine New York’s sanctuary policies in state law.
“I’m not speaking on hypothetical bills,” Hochul said trying to deflect.
“Governor, this isn’t a hypothetical. There was a sit-in in the state legislature today by activists blocking state Senators from coming into the chamber. Do you support the New York for All Act? Yes or no,” Lawler retorted.
“I’ll tell you this. I get about a thousand bills on my desk –” Hochul said before Lawler continued peppering her.
“Do you support the New York for All Act?” he repeated until Comer had to cut him off.
Lawler also brought up Hochul’s flip flop on allowing undocumented migrants to receive drivers licenses, something she vehemently opposed when running for Congress.
Republicans across the board came to the hearing with knives sharpened for the Dems.
“Let me be clear, sanctuary policies do not protect Americans, they protect criminal, illegal aliens,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in his remarks kicking off the hearing.
“Governor Hochul’s sanctuary policies cost taxpayers billions to house, feed, and provide driver’s license for illegal aliens while the cost of rent rises and hospitals are overrun. Her defiance of federal law invites crime to plague communities across the state,” Comer said, ripping into the New York gov specifically.
Throughout the hearing Hochul tried to argue both that New York has indeed been cooperating with ICE to deport criminal migrants, but also that the feds immigration raids and crackdown on protestors in LA are a “flagrant abuse of power.”
“My views on immigration are simple and direct, our nation needs secure borders, our nation needs comprehensive immigration reform from this body, and our state laws dictate that we cooperate with ICE and criminal cases,” Hochul said.
There are around 37,600 migrants in the New York City’s care, down significantly from the crisis’ peak, according to figures provided Thursday by City Hall,
The state has allocated $4.3 billion towards providing shelter, health services, and other benefits to deal with the crisis. New York City has spent $6.8 billion.
Additional reporting by Haley Brown
