Durbin Condemns The Trump Administration’s Cruel Immigration Tactics, Reiterates Senate Democrats’ Demands As DHS Funding Negotiations Continue

Durbin Condemns The Trump Administration's Cruel Immigration Tactics, Reiterates Senate Democrats' Demands As DHS Funding Negotiations Continue

Durbin was part of the "Gang of Eight" in 2013 that worked on a comprehensive immigration reform bill; Durbin: "That serious, bipartisan effort would have fixed our immigration system."

WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, condemned the Trump Administration for its reign of terror toward communities across the country amid the President's cruel mass deportation effort. Durbin began his speech by recounting last week's episode of John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" in which he laid into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and said it "remain[s] a massive agency with unclear checks on its power, boatloads of money, and sweeping surveillance authority."

Durbin said, "John Oliver is right. But it's important to remember how we got to this point. I'm old enough to remember a time before DHS. After [the] 9/11 [terrorist attacks], Congress created what would become the third largest department in the federal government. The creation and existence of this agency was defended, in part, by proponents who argued that immigration was primarily a homeland security issue. But from the very beginning, DHS and its various components have struggled to accomplish its many conflicting missions while spending hundreds of billions of dollars."

President Trump has justified these militarized immigration enforcement operations as targeting the "worst of the worst"; however, DHS's own statistics tell a different story. Reporting from CBS News shows that less than 14 percent of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in President Trump's first year back in office had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses. Just this past weekend, Durbin attended the funeral of Ofelia Giselle Torres Hidalgo, who tragically passed away, at age 16, after a battle with cancer. Her father, Ruben Torres Maldonado, was detained during an ICE raid-despite having no criminal record.

Durbin said, "They finally dropped all charges against him [Ruben] and let him go home to his sick daughter and family. He did go home, but his status on the immigration schedule was still uncertain. He managed to schedule a court hearing just two weeks ago. At that court hearing, his daughter [was] too weak to attend it personally, but she followed it by closed circuit TV. The judge ruled against the government and their detention of Ruben Torres, and his daughter got to see her father finally liberated from this outrageous conduct by ICE at the very last minutes of her life. She died three days later… Does a father standing by his dying daughter who's battling cancer sound like 'the worst of the worst' to you?"

"The political theater extends to arrests of U.S. citizens as well. Kyle Frankovich and Juan Munoz were arrested and detained during November protests outside the Chicagoland ICE processing center-despite peacefully protesting in a designated 'free speech zone'… Later, social media posts from DHS showed Kyle handcuffed, dubbing him a 'violent activist.' But after being detained for hours, Kyle and Juan weren't charged with crimes. They were used as camera props [during] Secretary Noem's appearance," Durbin continued.

"These rogue immigration agents have not hesitated to round up American citizens, green card holders, and people with no prior criminal records. They have not hesitated to slap Americans with the label 'domestic terrorist.' And this is bound to get worse with the unprecedented funding surge [to DHS] in the President's so-called 'Big, Beautiful' budget bill," Durbin continued.

Thanks to the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, ICE has more funding than the Coast Guard or U.S. Marines-an extra $75 billion in taxpayer dollars. That funding has been used in pursuit of the President's mass deportation agenda, while at the same time the Administration is diverting resources away from preventing drug trafficking and gun violence-ultimately making our country less safe.

"The funding certainly has not been used to improve hiring and training. Amid a hiring surge, ICE has reduced training requirements, waived age limitations, and bungled background checks… They've sought to recruit new agents via a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign that evokes white nationalism, leading to a real concern that the Administration is intentionally enlisting unqualified people based on their animus towards immigrants. That's why Senate Democrats, with the support of the American people, are demanding real reforms," Durbin said.

Senate Democrats laid out their proposals to reform federal immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). As part of those negotiations, Democrats are demanding the following common sense measures: first, they must stop roving patrols. Government agents cannot indiscriminately round up people without probable cause and federal agents cannot enter someone's home and disappear with them without a judicial warrant. Second, there needs to be accountability, including new use-of-force standards that allow local law enforcement to participate in investigating complaints of "excessive force" by immigration agents. Finally, Democrats are asking that masks come off.

"Time and time again, Democrats in Congress have tried to pass laws that bring much needed fixes to our immigration system. Thirteen years ago, I was part of a 'Gang of Eight' [Senators] [who] worked for months every night of every week until we had it done, a comprehensive immigration reform [bill]… We brought it to the floor of the United States Senate and had more than 65 votes in favor of it. It was a good bill. It would have avoided all of the mess we are facing today. What happened to that bill? It was sent to the Republican-controlled House where they refused to even consider it. And we've done nothing ever since," said Durbin. "That serious, bipartisan effort would have fixed our immigration system."

Durbin continued, "That bill included bipartisan provisions to secure our border and deport dangerous individuals-and also provided the solution that many undocumented immigrants need today. For those who had no serious criminal convictions, paid their taxes, and followed all the rules, it offered a path to citizenship."

Durbin concluded, "The American people are calling for reform today. The time to rein in this terror campaign is now and Congress must act."

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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