Durbin Denounces Trump Administration’s Cruel Efforts To Shut Down Legal Immigration

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke on the Senate floor to deliver a scathing condemnation of the Trump Administration's crackdown on legal immigration across the country. Under the guise of going after the "worst of the worst," Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have gone after U.S. citizens and immigrants who are legally in the U.S., racially profiling people on the street and detaining them. Further, the Trump Administration has implemented sweeping travel bans, stopped all processing of refugee and asylum claims, ended the congressionally authorized Diversity Visa program, and terminated Temporary Protected Status for many countries that are neither safe nor stable, including Afghanistan and Somalia, nationals of which the President called "garbage" just last month.

In his remarks, Durbin spoke out against the President's extremist immigration policies and chastised the Trump Administration for siphoning resources from essential law enforcement activities to bolster this vile crackdown on legal immigration.

"The Trump Administration has diverted resources from law enforcement and national security efforts to focus on arresting immigrants who pose no threat to public safety. We've seen it in Chicago. We've seen it in Minneapolis. This Administration is targeting legal immigrants who have followed every rule and regulation," Durbin began.

In November, President Trump politicized the death of two National Guard members in order to justify the freezing of all new visas for Afghan nationals. Since then, the Administration halted all asylum and refugee decisions and implemented an immigration ban on 39 countries. Today, it became public that the State Department also extended a visa ban to 36 additional countries.

"Many of these [Afghani] visa applicants fought against the Taliban alongside American forces and now must flee Afghanistan to avoid punishment or death for the 'crime' of working with us. President Trump has abandoned them," Durbin said. "He [President Trump] slammed the door on Afghan nationals who risked their lives to save the lives of American soldiers. And he did not stop there. In addition to suspending visa applications for Afghan nationals, the Trump Administration paused all asylum and refugee decisions."

"The Trump Administration has extended broad immigration bans to anyone from 39 different countries-including individuals from those countries who are already in the United States… The Administration is reviewing again all legal immigration cases already approved under the Biden Administration for individuals from the banned nations. To be clear, this expansion is not limited to nationals of countries on the list-it also includes anyone who was born in one of those countries, even if they lived the majority of their life somewhere else," Durbin continued.

"My office has received reports that Canadians born in Iran have been impacted by this new Trump ban. There have even been reports that the ban has stopped parents who have completed every step of the adoption process from bringing their new babies to the United States. The Administration has claimed that this is about vetting immigrants to protect public safety-but tell me, does it make sense to deny entry to a baby for 'vetting' reasons?" Durbin said.

Durbin then condemned the President's vile language and blatant animosity toward immigrants, which is fueling the Administration's immigration policies. After degrading Somali immigrants in a Cabinet meeting last month, the Administration terminated Somalia's designation for Temporary Protected Status.

"What the President has done is to bring down the hammer on those who are legally immigrating what he calls from 's-hole countries.' Remember that phrase? When the President during his first term referred to those from Africa and Haiti in profane and racist terms in the Oval Office? At the time, the White House denied that he said it. But I was there when the President made those statements, not once, but twice. I was in that meeting, and I confirmed that he used those vulgar terms referring to people from other countries. Two Republican Senators publicly accused me of lying," Durbin said. "Well, at a rally in Pennsylvania last month, President Trump bragged that he had indeed used the slur that I referred to earlier."

"At a Cabinet meeting last month, he [President Trump] publicly called Somali immigrants 'garbage,'" Durbin said. "Just yesterday, the Administration announced the termination of Somalia's designation for Temporary Protected Status. TPS allows immigrants from a country that is unsafe to temporarily remain in the United States. Does the President really think Somalia is a safe or stable place for these individuals to return? I think not. He just doesn't care."

"These racist comments and policies have confirmed what we've known all along: the President has a deep-seated animus for immigrants who are not white," Durbin continued.

Durbin decried the Administration's mission to go after all immigrants, even those that have entered the country legally.

"Last Friday, in the midst of federal immigration agents' assault on Minneapolis, the Department of Homeland Security began arresting recently arrived refugees in Minnesota. These refugees have already gone through intensive vetting, sometimes for years, before they've been allowed to come to the United States. They followed our laws and came here in the 'right way,'" Durbin said. "The fraud in Minnesota is serious, and warrants continued investigation, but punishing thousands of refugees because of crimes they had nothing to do with is just plain wrong."

"The Administration says their immigration policies are intended to protect Americans. I'm calling their bluff. What they have done, instead, is to effectively halt legal immigration from a long list of countries, all of which have majority non-white populations. This was their real intention all along," Durbin continued.

"Already, the lives of people in our immigration system-particularly people of color-have been unfairly upended. Immigrants have seen their long-scheduled green card interviews cancelled. Naturalization candidates have been pulled from their scheduled citizenship ceremonies. I know this to be true because it happened to my constituents, who have reached out to my office," Durbin said. "They are rightfully upset that the Administration has stopped them-individuals who are already approved for citizenship-from taking their oath of allegiance to this country."

Durbin concluded his remarks by recalling his mother's own immigration and underscoring that the United States is a nation of immigrants.

"My mother was a naturalized U.S. citizen. I keep her naturalization certificate framed in my office in the United States Capitol. Those who are willing to take the oath of allegiance to our country become some of our most loyal citizens. My mom was one of them. We cannot abandon them," Durbin said.

"We must not allow America to turn its back on immigrants who have followed every rule and who make our country stronger. It would be an affront to the Constitution and a retreat from our heritage as a nation of immigrants… We are a nation of immigrants, and we should never forget it," Durbin concluded his remarks.

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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