Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) slammed the woke Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, in a heated exchange, where he pointed out Tompkins County’s refusal to honor an ICE detainer for Jesus Romero-Hernandez, a Mexican citizen deported seven times. After he was released, Romero-Hernandez assaulted a resident with a machete, choked a police officer, and attacked a corrections officer.
For context, despite a federal arrest warrant and biometric confirmation, Tompkins County released him on January 28, 2025, before ICE could take custody, ignoring their request to hold him for just over an hour. The Governor distanced state policies from local actions, insisting New York cooperates with ICE, but avoided directly condemning Tompkins County’s decision.
In any case, Rep. Jim Jordan began to grill Hochul with a simple question: “You said, New York State cooperates with [ICE] in criminal cases. Governor, who’s Jesus Romero Hernandez?” Dodging responsibility, the Democrat said, “I don’t have the details on every single person in a state of 20 million people.”
Firing back, Jordan said, “I understand, but this guy’s a citizen of Mexico, deported seven times, came to your state, assaulted one of your residents with a machete, choked a police officer, then when he was in custody, assaulted a corrections officer.”
Offering more details of the scandal, he said, “ICE finds out this guy is in your state’s custody, and they send you a detainer…to the Tompkins County Jail, from Syracuse Immigrations and Customs Enforcement section one, they check a couple of boxes. The first one they check is a final order of removal against the alien has taken place.”
Explaining the significance, Jordan stated, “That means a court has said this guy needs to go, this machete-wielding cop, choking corrections officer, assaulting guy needs to go. Then they also check another box, and they say biometric confirmation of who this individual is, this alien’s identity.”
Turning back to the shady Democrat, he explained, “So they got the right guy, and a court has said he needs to go. Any idea what Tompkins County Jail decided to do with that detainer order? I will tell you this with a specific question. What did Tompkins County do?”
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Uncomfortable, Hochul reacted, “Those descriptions you have put forth are absolutely chilling and disturbing and reprehensible to all of us. My job is to protect New York..I will tell you we cannot and will not hold Mr. Hernandez…We can’t keep him.”
Firing back at the New York Governor, Jordan declared, “That is sanctuary policy in a nutshell, and that is what your state supports, and so do these other governors. That is what is so wrong. Why the American people hate this concept.”
Watch the clip here:
Concluding his epic rebuke, Jordan said, “This guy who’s now been rearrested, there is imminent danger that this inmate will do injury to himself and to others, and presents a safety a threat to safety, security and good order of the facility, so he’s not permitted to leave his cell. So this guy is not even allowed out of his cell, but they let him out on the street a few months ago.”