EXCLUSIVE: A first-term House GOP firebrand is arguing that state governors who run afoul of federal immigration laws should be arrested.
"I think if they are openly flouting federal law and obstructing federal law enforcement, then that's something we should consider," Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital Thursday.
Gill’s brief interview occurred on the sidelines of the House Oversight Committee’s high-profile sanctuary state hearing with the Democratic governors of New York, Illinois and Minnesota.
Outside Washington, meanwhile, rioters in Los Angeles have been facing off with law enforcement as California’s Democratic leaders accuse the Trump administration of escalating violent tensions. President Donald Trump and his allies, in turn, claim Gov. Gavin Newsom and others are flouting federal immigration law, which Newsom has denied.
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Trump has called for Newsom to be arrested, a declaration Democrats have panned as authoritarian.
But Gill suggested it was warranted if the progressive governor — or others like him — were found to have broken any laws.
"I think if they're breaking the law, and they are obstructing federal law enforcement of federal immigration, then yes, they should be [arrested]," Gill said.
"I don't think that we should be turning our cities into anarchic hellholes. And that's what's happening."
A spokesperson for Newsom told Fox News Digital in response to Gill’s comments, "Our state laws do not conflict with any federal law. Period. Full stop."
It’s a clash Newsom and Trump have seen before. In 2019, a federal court upheld the California Values Act, the state’s sanctuary law, against a challenge from the Trump administration.
But there’s new legal back-and-forth over Trump’s right to send the National Guard into Los Angeles over Newsom’s objections.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Trump must return control of the California National Guard to Newsom, but an appeals court quickly reversed that decision.
Gill’s focus during the sanctuary state House Oversight Committee hearing was aimed at Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who he accused of being lax about and even supportive of illegal immigration.
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He said Pritzker was in favor of "welcoming" illegal immigrants to the U.S., but the Illinois Democrat countered that he was referring to asylum seekers.
At one point, Pritzker said he supported the need for federal immigration authorities, but Gill challenged him.
"Your administration gave $12,000 to the Organized Communities Against Deportations, which just this past month was marching in the streets of Chicago with signs that say ‘Abolish ICE,'" Gill said.
"Is this a reflection of your moral values?" Gill asked.
Pritzker replied, "I do not support abolishing an immigration force."
