Durbin Recounts Secretary Noem’s Disgraceful Tenure Leading DHS

Durbin Recounts Secretary Noem's Disgraceful Tenure Leading DHS

In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin recounted the atrocities that happened under Secretary Noem's leadership at DHS

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, yesterday spoke on the Senate floor about President Trump's decision to fire U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, whose disastrous leadership led to a lawless and morally bankrupt mass deportation campaign in which U.S. citizens, legal residents, and immigrants with no criminal history were indiscriminately swept up. As Durbin made clear in his remarks, Secretary Noem's removal was long overdue.

Durbin began his remarks by recounting Secretary Noem's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Despite the Committee's duty to conduct oversight, Secretary Noem ignored Durbin's repeated requests to come before the Committee and answer questions about her law enforcement agents' dangerous actions-until last week.

"For the first time [during this administration], the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security came and appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She had been in the position for almost a year and had never agreed to publicly appear and account for her mismanagement of that Department until last week. [She sat for] One day before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which I serve as Ranking Democrat, and the second day before the House Judiciary Committee for a similar hearing," Durbin began.

"When the smoke had cleared, President Trump announced via social media post that he was firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The reason for the decision was obvious after her two days of testimony and two days of refusal to respond to important questions," Durbin said.

Durbin spoke about Secretary Noem's disastrous tenure leading DHS, pointing toward the plethora of stories of American citizens and immigrants, most of whom do not have violent criminal records, being detained without due process by federal agents using increasingly violent tactics.

"Under Kristi Noem's disastrous stewardship, the Department was devoid of any moral compass or respect for the rule of law. The city of Chicago was one of the first victims of Secretary Noem's political theater campaign with her so-called 'Operation Midway Blitz.' Instead of targeting the 'worst of the worst,' as the President has frequently announced, Secretary Noem unleashed masked militarized immigration enforcement officers onto our streets. These officers detained American citizens, green card holders, and community members with no prior criminal records, in violent and indiscriminate and unconstitutional roundups," Durbin said.

"What's the record so far with that campaign [to remove the 'worst of the worst'] under Secretary Noem and President Trump? They found that only one out of seven of the people who have been detained and deported, one out of seven, has any kind of serious [and violent] criminal record. One out of seven," Durbin said.

"Her roving patrols shot a Chicago resident and citizen, Marimar Martinez, five times. Marimar Martinez is a miracle, lucky to be alive. What did she do that was so dangerous that evoked the reaction from the ICE and CBP agents? She was taking a box of extra clothing to her church on a Saturday morning, driving through the streets of Chicago, Kedzie Avenue to be specific, when she was stopped by these agents of DHS. When it was all over, they shot at her car as it departed and struck her with five different bullets. Imagine. She's alive today to tell about it," Durbin continued. "She miraculously survived. But Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis were shot by immigration agents there and did not survive."

Durbin then underscored the need for serious reform at DHS to prevent masked immigration agents from continuing to sow chaos in communities across the country. Durbin made clear that DHS should be held to the same standards as local law enforcement and be properly trained.

"That's why we're in a conversation with the Republicans about changing the procedures of ICE and CBP when it comes to this President's campaign. To think that innocent American citizens are being shot and killed in our streets is unacceptable, unthinkable, unimaginable, but it's a fact. And that's why we're standing for the premise that these agents have to be held to similar standards that police and troopers are held to all across the United States," Durbin said.

"How many of your state troopers are wearing a mask today to go out and do their job? In Illinois, none. In your state, probably the same. And how about your local police? Are they wearing masks? Do they have video cameras on? The basics of policing that we accept as professionalism have been rejected by the Department of Homeland Security. We're trying to establish a standard for these enforcement officers that is comparable to the standard of your police and state troopers and deputy sheriffs. That's it," Durbin continued.

Durbin recalled Secretary Noem's testimony before Congress in which she repeatedly lied under oath, falsely claiming that DHS has complied with the law. Stemming from repeated questions by Democrats in both the Senate and House, Secretary Noem lost the confidence of the President for spending millions of taxpayer dollars on a self-promotional campaign that she claimed was to encourage immigrants to self-deport.

"Last week, when Secretary Noem finally appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, my colleagues and I sought to hold her to account. She proceeded, unfortunately, to lie under oath, multiple times, including saying DHS followed court orders and had not detained American citizens, despite ample evidence to the contrary," Durbin said.

"But Noem's abysmal track record wasn't enough to spur the President into action. What was the tipping point? Well, it turned out she had a multimillion dollar, in fact, over $143 million, self-promotional campaign which showed Kristi Noem riding horses at Mount Rushmore, wearing camo-chic outfits, talking about how tough she was," Durbin said.

Durbin made clear that the Senate, not the President, must confirm the next Secretary of Homeland Security.

"Donald Trump announced that our colleague from Oklahoma, Senator Markwayne Mullin, will succeed Kristi Noem. We will find out how he plans to lead the Department at this perilous moment, as the Senate exercises its authority under the Constitution to provide advice and consent on this nomination," Durbin said.

Durbin concluded his speech by emphasizing that Senator Mullin will face questions about how he plans to reform DHS procedures to ensure that federal immigration agents follow the rule of law.

"Senator Patty Murray of the State of Washington, the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, came to the floor and made a unanimous consent request that we fund every other agency of DHS, as we had agreed in a bipartisan manner, and work solely on ICE and CBP to come up with an agreement and establish some reasonable policing standards. [Republicans] objected," Durbin said. "I hope soon to restore the funding for these critical agencies at this moment, and give us enough time, we certainly have enough time, to work out an agreement on the procedures when it comes to ICE and CBP."

"It won't be unreasonable to ask Senator Mullin if he pursues this appointment by the President what he will do to change this Department and those critical areas? What does he think about shooting innocent Americans in the street? What does he think about his officers wearing masks? What does he think about them carrying video cameras to record exactly what happens at these scenes? What does he think about someone bashing down the front door of your home without a judicial warrant, without the permission or the approval of the judge in the courts - things that are just basic to policing across America," Durbin said.

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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