Gov. Walz testifies before Congress about immigrant sanctuary cities
(ABC 6 News) — On Thursday, Governor Tim Walz traded the Capitol in St. Paul for Washington D.C. as he testified before the U.S. House Oversight Committee on illegal immigration and sanctuary cities.
Walz spent a lot of time defending Minnesota’s immigration policies, and some federal leaders did not hold back.
Gov. Walz argued that enforcing immigration law is not the role of local and state governments while being grilled by Republicans in Congress about certain policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Minnesota’s Congressman Tom Emmer and Walz exchanged heated arguments as Emmer routinely criticized the governor’s policies.
“Your attorney general is directing law enforcement to ignore ICE immigration detainers. Do you agree with the attorney general’s guidance?” Emmer questioned.
“Congressman, what I would say on this is this. Minnesota follows all laws,” Walz answered.
Emmer was one of several Republicans to condemn the governor’s policies while Walz routinely avoided questions.
At one point, Walz’s comment at the University of Minnesota’s law school graduation last month took centerstage.
When pushed to recant his statement, Walz refused and instead doubled down on his criticism of ICE agents’ tactics.
Governor Walz has not indicated whether he will run for a third term. While a new KSTP/SurveyUSA poll shows 58% of Minnesotans strongly approve of his job while in office, it’s tied 43% to 43% when asked if he should run again.