Denouncing federal immigration agents’ brutal tactics used in the Trump Administration’s mass deportation campaign, Durbin has repeatedly called for necessary reforms to ICE
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after the Senate passed legislation to fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with the exception of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):
“As Democrats made clear since these negotiations began, TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard should not be punished because of the President’s mass deportation campaign. While this could have been accomplished in the 14 opportunities Senate Democrats gave Republicans over the past few weeks, I’m glad our Republican colleagues finally said yes instead of no.
“Democrats held firm in our position that without serious reforms, we cannot support additional funding for ICE—an agency that has carried out unspeakable cruelty against children, immigrant families, and American citizens. We will continue to fight for those reforms.”
Over the course of the last few weeks, Senate Democrats had come to the floor 14 times to fund TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard while negotiations for reforms at ICE and CBP continued. Senate Republicans objected each time.
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