Durbin Questions Witnesses On Treatment Of Unaccompanied Migrant Children During Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, yesterday questioned witnesses at a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration hearing on the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children who have sought refuge in the United States.

Durbin began by sharing his experience visiting the Chicago Immigration Court this spring. Shortly after meeting with Durbin, Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jennifer Peyton was fired in a political move by the Trump Administration to obstruct congressional oversight on immigration procedures. Durbin then sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi admonishing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the arbitrary firing of immigration judges despite an unprecedented backlog of immigration cases.

"A few weeks ago, I went to the immigration court in downtown Chicago… People come in with appointed times, some with attorneys, some without, carrying beaten up, old envelopes with federal documents in them. This is their day for their appearance. It's a big day in their lives. For some of them, they're going to find out whether they can stay in the U.S. or whether they have a chance to achieve some sort of status that gives them a future [in the U.S.]," Durbin began. "I was greeted at the door… by the chief judge. She had been with the court for nine years. She walked me up to the court room and escorted me in. I sat down, and she left. I watched as the proceedings continued."

"Someone came to me and said, 'There are no ICE agents in the courthouse today, which is

unusual. They heard you were coming.' The ICE agents were showing up at the hearings of the people who were told they have to attend and detaining them in the hallways. You can imagine the dilemma that these individuals are facing. Do I get into the system and hope it works? Or do I get into the building and hope that I do not get detained?" Durbin said.

"Two weeks after I visited that immigration court, they fired the judge who had been there for nine years. [DOJ] sent a memo to the other judges and personnel [telling them] not to have any conversations with members of Congress. Is that how this is supposed to work? In my mind, it tells you what is going on in the real world. People are trying to find out if they have a legal path in the system. For many of them, even if they believe they have one, it may not work. We are seeing people now who are being detained, who are citizens of the United States. [They are] snatched off street corners and other places, and they have no history of committing any crimes," Durbin continued.

Durbin emphasized the emotional toll of immigration on unaccompanied children, sharing the story of two young girls meeting in an immigration facility.

"I cannot understand how desperate a mother must be to turn her child over to a transporter to take that little child into the United States in the hopes they will link up with somebody in the family. I cannot imagine that, particularly when you consider the hardships they go through. I remember a scene where two little girls walked into a room holding hands, about five years old each. I said, 'Who are these little girls?' They said, 'They decided they are sisters, but one of them is from Guatemala and the other is from Mexico.' They have been kicked around the system, and they're looking for anything that looks like family or security," Durbin said.

Durbin explained that the family members who take in unaccompanied migrant children may distrust outreach from the federal government, as someone in the household may be undocumented. Many of these families do not respond to the inquiries from federal agencies about the child in their care for fear that immigration enforcement will deport them.

"If they [migrant children] are placed with someone who the agency believes is a responsible person, some people have criticized the fact they cannot get follow-up phone calls to the same people. Why can't we find these kids? Some of the… families don't want to link up with this government. There could be someone in the household who is undocumented and frightened to be part of the legal system. That's a dilemma. If we're going to keep the kids safe, we have to know who these people are and that they're doing the right thing. But the system is militating against that at this very moment. People are scared to death of the Trump Administration deporting them, so they are not cooperating," Durbin said.

Durbin then asked Ms. Ali Hopper, President and Co-Founder of GUARD Against Trafficking, about the impact of cutting back on investigative and oversight resources that were previously allocated to helping children who may have been trafficked.

"Ms. Hopper, I understand the Administration has removed more than 70 percent of the workforce monitoring and combatting trafficking in persons and delayed the release of its annual report documenting human trafficking. Does this rollback of investigative and oversight resources help in the cause of making sure children are not trafficked?" Durbin asked.

Ms. Hopper replied that deploying more resources to the border is her organization's priority,

"Do we also need people who work with unaccompanied children and others who are trying to find a safe way through our system?" Durbin followed up.

Ms. Hopper agreed.

Video of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here.

Audio of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here.

Footage of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here for TV Stations.

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