Rep. Dan Goldman Bashes Elise Stefanik for Using Congressional Committee for Her Gubernatorial Campaign, Condemns Republicans for Rubber Stamping Trump’s Authoritarian ICE Raids

 

 

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today excoriated Rep. Elise Stefanik for her desperate theatrics in the Oversight Committee that were clearly designed to generate five minutes of internet fame in pursuit of her quixotic 2026 gubernatorial campaign. Goldman then challenged committee Republicans to stand up to the Trump administration’s authoritarian crackdown on law-abiding, non-violent immigrants. 

 

A rough transcript of the committee is available below. Watch Congressman Goldman’s committee remarks here. 

 

Rep. Dan Goldman: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  

 

I would urge you to reserve comment on what happened to Mr. Padilla until you get full information. In fact, I would urge all of my Republican colleagues to take a breath before you once again desperately run to bend the knee to Donald Trump and to Kristi Noem, because anyone with two eyes that can see can see that that was authoritarian, lawless behavior that no person in America, much less a senator conducting constitutional oversight, should have received. 

  

And I know it's hard for all of you to speak up against Donald Trump and that's why we're here at this hearing, talking all about Joe Biden, talking all about Joe Biden's policy. 

 

Is it just because you're consistently trying to ignore the fact that Joe Biden is not President? Donald Trump is President. And what he's doing right now, which you all know, is he is going after people who are lawfully present. 

 

Now, I appreciate the governors being here. I'm sorry you have to deal with this crap. Governor Hochul, I want you to know, as a proud member of the delegation of your state, I am not going to use my five minutes to mount a campaign for governor against you as my colleague from the North chose to do. 

  

I will give you the opportunity to actually answer some questions, unlike she did. And I will allow you to explain exactly what the policies in New York are, as it relates to cooperation between the state and federal agents.  

 

 

First of all, I’m glad you're not running against me. Thank you. Secondly, I appreciate the opportunity to break through all the noise here today and to stop the talking points that keep mischaracterizing our policies in the great state of New York. 

  

New York is not a sanctuary or a haven for criminals. We devote an enormous amount of our energy working to keep New Yorkers safe. $2.5 billion, I've allocated just in the last few years.  

 

We do cooperate with ICE when it comes to investigating or building a case against criminals.  

 

We do this all the time, and when someone goes through the criminal justice system in the state of New York, they do their time in prison. 

  

We alert ICE 30 days in advance of when they're to be removed, and we send them away. That's how it's supposed to work. But what we do not do under our laws is divert our essential resources that protect everyday New Yorkers from crimes themselves, and have that help ICE with civil immigration enforcement. That is their job. That is the federal government's job. And we cannot be told to enforce federal laws.  

 

Goldman: Or to use all your limited resources to spend all that time doing their job.   

 

Hochul: My concern is that every minute that ICE officers are going after moms and dads and kids and separating families, perhaps one more criminal is still out there at large. 

 

Goldman: I actually, in my district office down in lower Manhattan, witnessed ICE officers waiting for immigrants to come out of a courtroom.  

 

These are immigrants who have asylum applications. And I’m sure you agree with me that asylum is a lawful pathway to immigrate to this country. Is that correct? 

  

Hochul: That is absolutely correct.  

 

Goldman: So, in order to make these immigrants here unlawfully, the DHS is now dismissing their cases, their own removal proceedings against them to void out the asylum claim. That way, when they go downstairs in the elevator, there are ICE agents that can be there to arrest them and put them in expedited removal. 

  

And they don't have an asylum claim that is live anymore because they've just voided it out. These are non-criminal, nonviolent immigrants who are here going through the lawful process. And this is who the Trump Administration is going after every single day. It's a disgrace. 

 

You said you were going to go after the worst of the worst. You were going to go after convicted criminals. You're here questioning about all these criminals.  

 

You're going after people who actually are going through the lawful process you say they should. But just because Donald Trump and Stephen Miller need to bump up their numbers because they can't do a good enough job in actually finding convicted criminals, you're going after moms, dads, separating parents from children.   

 

You have a voice. Republicans speak up.