Fellow Illinoisan,

For the past two and a half years, President Trump has continually used hateful and crude language to attack immigrants. This language is directly reflected in the cruelty of many of the Administration’s policies. Here are a few examples:
  • The Muslim travel ban created chaos at airports across the country and continues to separate thousands of American families.
  • The repeal of DACA threatens 800,000 young immigrants with deportation to countries they barely remember.
  • The termination of Temporary Protected Status puts more than 300,000 immigrants at risk of deportation to dangerous conditions.
  • The disastrous separation of thousands of families at the border has done permanent damage to countless children.
  • Inhumane overcrowding in migrant detention facilities that the DHS Inspector General found was, quote, “an immediate risk to the health and safety of detainees and DHS employees.”
  • Threatening mass arrests and deportations of millions of immigrants who have committed no crime and pose no threat, which has created rampant fear in immigrant communities around the country. 

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DURBIN SLAMS NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RULE ON ASYLUM SEEKERS

And now, the Trump Administration has put a new rule into place that will block nearly all asylum claims at our southern border, including women and children fleeing persecution.  The UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, said that this rule “will endanger vulnerable people in need of international protection from violence or persecution.”

I recently had the chance to go down to McAllen, Texas, and see the situation at the border for myself. What I saw in the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities was unacceptable. One young boy told us that he hadn’t been able to brush his teeth for more than a week. We can argue over immigration policy, but we should all agree that children should be treated humanely. Showing compassion to the children who arrive at our border should be a fundamental American value. We are better than this.

Democrats stand ready to work on smart, effective, and humane border security policies. We need our Republican colleagues to condemn President Trump’s cruel campaign against families and children and work with us on bipartisan basis to address the situation at our southern border.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

 

 

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