Spotlight forum will examine the Trump Administration’s ongoing abuse of immigrants to attack the fundamental rights of all Americans
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at a spotlight forum entitled “Cruel and Unamerican: The Abuse of Immigrants to Attack our Constitutional Order.” This forum will examine the Trump Administration’s ongoing abuse of immigrants to attack the fundamental rights of all Americans. The United States Constitution lays out certain fundamental principles that define our country, including freedom of speech, due process, and the separation of powers.
Key quotes:
“Earlier this year, President Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime authority that was last used during World War II to detain Japanese, Italian, and German immigrants. In recent days, he deployed the National Guard to California in response to protests against his Administration’s mass deportations—even when state officials told him it would only make things worse in California.”
“There is no justification for violence—none. But our nation is not at war. So why would the President invoke these wartime authorities? Because he wants to bypass constitutional principles like due process, the separation of powers, and federalism.”
“This Administration has sent nearly 300 people to a dangerous and brutal prison in El Salvador. They claim these individuals are all criminals and gang members. But that’s not the reality… President Trump has threatened to send ‘homegrown’ criminals to El Salvador next.”
“This Administration has also used immigrants to attack the First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful protest, all in an attempt to silence those who disagree with them… The Trump Administration has shown they are willing to break the law to carry out [their] mass deportation campaign. They have failed to comply with court orders, fired federal workers without the process required by law, and unlawfully gutted oversight offices that play a critical role in ensuring the humane treatment of detainees.”
“In America, we believe that everyone deserves a chance to prove their innocence and access a fair trial. We all have the right to express our political opinions and even to disagree with the government. Those are our fundamental rights as Americans. But just look at the President’s willingness to escalate and inflame protests in California. Listen to his expressed desire to send Americans to a brutal, foreign prison. The President won’t stop at immigrants. Any of us could be next. If the President doesn’t like our laws, he should come to Congress and work with us to fix our broken immigration system.”
“Poll after poll shows that Americans on both sides of the aisle support establishing a path to citizenship for Dreamers, improving our legal immigration system, and granting status to those who have been paying taxes and have committed no crimes… So instead of ripping apart families, instead of sending U.S. citizen children to a country they’ve never known, instead of baselessly accusing asylum seekers of gang affiliations and tossing them into a foreign prison, instead of shredding First Amendment rights, it is time for Republicans to come to the table and negotiate a bipartisan solution that works for all Americans and upholds our nation’s most cherished and fundamental freedoms.”
This Administration has used immigration to attempt to undermine our constitutional order and the rule of law, including—unprecedented attacks on due process, including arbitrary arrests and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport noncitizens to El Salvador without a hearing; deploying the National Guard over the objections of local authorities; sending masked agents to arrest noncitizensfor speech and expression protected by the First Amendment; disappearing noncitizens to El Salvador, South Sudan, and Guantanamo, with threats to send “homegrown criminals” next; and dismantling congressionally authorized oversight, including shuttering oversight offices and arresting a member of Congress attempting to conduct oversight.
Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
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