As The Trump Administration Continues To Threaten DACA & Senate Republicans Push For Additional ICE, CBP Funding, Durbin Denounces The President’s Cruel Mass Deportation Campaign

As The Trump Administration Continues To Threaten DACA & Senate Republicans Push For Additional ICE, CBP Funding, Durbin Denounces The President's Cruel Mass Deportation Campaign

Durbin shared the story of Juan Chavez Velasco, a Dreamer and COVID-19 frontline worker, who was detained by ICE and swept up in the President's anti-immigrant campaign

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), author of the Dream Act, today denounced the Trump Administration's continued threats to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and Senate Republicans' reconciliation bill which would give the Trump Administration $70 billion additional dollars for the President's mass deportation operation.

"I've seen it firsthand [President Trump's mass deportation campaign] in the city of Chicago… many other places in my state, where the ICE agents have arrived. America saw it firsthand in Minneapolis, when the ICE agents on the streets murdered two innocent people who were merely protesting as they have a right to do under our Constitution. Where are we today? We're considering an appropriations bill… which will appropriate more money for immigration enforcement than ever in our history," Durbin said.

"They want more money to go after illegal immigrants. So, the question obviously is how are they doing, with the billions of dollars being spent on ICE and Border Patrol? It turns out that six out of the seven people who have been arrested by this immigration force had no [serious] criminal record whatsoever. Listen to the story of one of these people and come to understand what I'm talking about," Durbin continued.

During his remarks, Durbin shared the story of Juan Chavez Velasco. Juan is a medical laboratory scientist and has lived in the United States for more than 25 years.During the COVID-19 pandemic, Juan was a frontline worker at a hospital, and he never missed a day of work. Juan's parents brought him to the United States when he was eight years old, and for more than a decade his ability to live and work in the United States has been protected by only one thing: his status as a DACA holder.

"With DACA, Juan had been a contributing member of our country for years and then President Trump was elected to a second term. Everything changed. In February, as Juan was driving to deliver milk to his infant daughter in the NICU, and he was stopped by ICE agents… His wife, Stephanie, was on the phone with him as ICE agents questioned his immigration status and they decided to detain him. He told them, 'I'm a DACA holder.' They ignored him. He was retained in ICE detention for three months. When his son Damien visited him in detention, he sobbed at the sight of his father behind a glass barrier. He could not understand why the government would take his dad away from him. Juan was finally released last month after his wife Stephanie bravely testified at a spotlight [forum] that I convened but he is not yet free. Juan still lives in fear that at any day ICE agents could return and take him away from his family and deport him to Colombia," Durbin continued. "Juan's story is heartbreaking, but it is only one of many stories from Dreamers who have been targeted by the Trump Administration."

Upon returning to office, the President has used every tool at his disposal to thwart the protections of DACA. Last year, ICE arrested at least 261 DACA recipients and deported 86 of them. Even those who have not been detained have faced unprecedented delays in renewing their DACA status. Without renewal, these young people will lose their ability to work legally in the United States and will no longer be protected from deportation.

Last month, the Trump Administration announced it would also force legal immigrants to leave America to apply for a green card, except in rare circumstances. With bans in effect preventing consular processing for green card applicants from 75 countries, there is no assurance that they can ever return to the United States.

"After outcry across the country, DHS claimed to roll back their decision, saying that applicants who 'benefit the national interest' would not be affected. But it remains to be seen how this Administration will define national interest. Will spouses of U.S. citizens qualify? Will immigrants sponsored for a green card for their work as doctors and nurses be allowed to say in this country? We honestly don't know," Durbin said.

Durbin continued, "The terror and fear that this Administration seeks to inspire in legal immigrants does not make our nation great-it undermines the promise we made to these [green card applicants] … These are individuals who have lived in America for years, married and had their own U.S. citizen children, and are contributing to our communities. Why would we want them to leave?"

Durbin concluded, "As the Senate prepares to consider the upcoming Republican budget bill, which would put another $70 billion additional dollars into the President's mass deportation operation, I urge my Republican colleagues to stand up and look at this honestly."

Video of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here.

Footage of Durbin's remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.

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