Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday defended Illinois' sanctuary laws protecting undocumented immigrants at a hearing before Congress, while accusing President Donald Trump of "abuses of power" by deploying the military to Los Angeles in response to protests against his administration's immigration crackdown.

Pritzker provided the committee with a five-page opening statement, in which he’ll highlight the state’s response to the migrant crisis and tout that crime is down in Illinois, in an effort to tackle the unproven rhetoric that immigrants who lack legal status are a major source of violence.