By: Fern Sidman

In one of the most searing exchanges to take place during a congressional oversight hearing in recent memory, House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik delivered a damning rebuke of Governor Kathy Hochul’s sanctuary state policies, exposing what many New Yorkers see as a deeply dangerous refusal to prioritize the safety of law-abiding citizens over ideological pandering to the far-left.

As reported from today’s Oversight Committee proceedings, Stefanik — a rising star in Republican leadership and a fierce advocate for victims of crime — systematically dismantled Governor Hochul’s evasive defenses of her own executive orders, especially Executive Order One, which she signed on her very first day in office and reauthorized three times, most recently this January. That order, as Stefanik quoted verbatim, explicitly restricts cooperation between New York state and federal immigration authorities in cases involving undocumented immigrants.

“It is the policy of the state that state officers or employees shall not disclose information to federal immigration authorities for the purpose of federal civil immigration enforcement,” Stefanik quoted, adding, “Law enforcement officers have no authority in the state of New York to take any policy action solely because the person is an undocumented alien.”

As the hearing unfolded, Hochul attempted to sidestep, distract, and reframe. But Stefanik stayed laser-focused. With a prosecutorial command of the facts and names, she demanded accountability from the governor for the very real consequences of the state’s sanctuary policies — naming specific victims, recounting heinous crimes, and pressing Hochul on whether she even knew the names of the criminals involved. Time and again, the governor failed to answer.

Among the cases Stefanik cited were Sakir Akkan, an illegal migrant who, as Stefanik revealed, threatened a 15-year-old girl with a metal pole, abducted her, and raped her in Albany — crimes committed while ICE detainers were ignored by New York authorities, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, who burned a sleeping woman alive on the subway. Despite a federal detainer issued by ICE, New York officials under Hochul’s sanctuary laws refused to hand him over, Raymond Rojas Basilio, a known illegal immigrant who molested an 11-year-old child, again shielded from deportation under state policy and Wilson Castillo Diaz, who raped a five-year-old girl in Nassau County — another violent predator allowed to remain in the state due to Hochul’s policy of non-cooperation with federal law enforcement.

Time and again, Governor Hochul demurred, claiming she didn’t know the names, didn’t recall the cases, or simply shifted to a canned defense about “cooperation with ICE.” But Stefanik had receipts, facts, and legal documentation on her side — and refused to let Hochul bury these horrific crimes beneath layers of political talking points.

“You are not advocating on behalf of these victims,” Stefanik charged, “You are shielding illegals. You are putting illegals first.”

Indeed, as Stefanik made clear, this isn’t just about abstract policy debates or ideological posturing — it’s about human lives. About real children and women brutalized, raped, and murdered in the name of sanctuary. Stefanik’s pointed interrogation was a voice for those victims, and for the vast swath of New Yorkers who feel abandoned by a government more invested in shielding lawbreakers than protecting the innocent.

And Stefanik didn’t stop at the individual cases. She tied the governor’s sanctuary stance to broader systemic failures — including rising crime rates, overwhelmed city services, and the erosion of public trust in government. Her message was loud, clear, and morally unassailable: Governor Hochul’s policies are not just misguided — they are dangerous.

“This is Kathy Hochul’s New York,” Stefanik declared, “A place where violent criminals walk the streets while their victims — including children — are buried, burned, or scarred for life.”

What makes Stefanik’s performance all the more powerful is the broader context. New Yorkers across the political spectrum are reeling from the state’s crime crisis. City neighborhoods are paralyzed by fear. ICE agents are hamstrung. Police officers are under siege. And all the while, the state’s leadership continues to double down on policies that privilege ideological purity over practical safety.

Stefanik is tapping into a vein of discontent that runs deep in New York: working-class families, law enforcement officers, religious communities, and everyday citizens are desperate for leaders who put them first — not illegal criminals, not radicals pushing open-border fantasies, and not bureaucrats more interested in preserving their progressive credentials than preserving public order.

And this wasn’t grandstanding. This was accountability. Every name Stefanik listed. Every brutal crime. Every time Hochul hedged or dodged, Stefanik was ready — prepared, precise, and utterly resolute.

“We deserve a governor who stands up for law-abiding New Yorkers,” she concluded, “Who doesn’t put illegals first, but puts New Yorkers first.”

Her words echoed not just in the committee chamber, but across the state.

Elise Stefanik, already recognized for her leadership in national Republican politics, emerged from this hearing as something more: a champion for victims, a voice for sanity, and a fighter for accountability in a political climate too often dominated by evasion and spin.

As New York careens deeper into crisis under Hochul’s watch, Stefanik’s unwavering advocacy may offer not just a rebuke of failed leadership — but a vision of the kind of principled, courageous governance the state so desperately needs.

And for thousands of grieving families, exhausted law enforcement officers, and frightened citizens — that voice cannot come soon enough.