Durbin Condemns President Trump’s Racist Comments Towards Immigrants In Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Meeting
During his opening remarks, Durbin again called on DHS Secretary Noem to testify in front of the Committee, urged Chairman Grassley to consider a subpoena if she refuses to appear
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement during today’s Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting condemning the Trump Administration’s failing immigration enforcement tactics and the diversion of necessary resources away from drug trafficking, gun violence, and other threats that put our nation’s security at risk—all while pardoning drug kingpins, including former Honduras President, Juan Orlando Hernández. Durbin also again called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to testify in front of the Committee.
Durbin also spoke about President Donald Trump finally admitting that he used the slur “shithole countries” to denigrate Haiti and African nations during a 2018 meeting in the Oval Office that Durbin attended. Trump admitted to this comment during his rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
Key Quotes
“Consider President Trump’s extrajudicial killings of alleged drug traffickers… Since September, the Administration has carried out at least 22 attacks, killing at least 87 people. The President and Secretary Hegseth allege they are killing ‘narco-terrorists’—but the Administration refused to provide any evidence of an imminent threat justifying lethal force. If these are actually drug traffickers, law enforcement should stop the boats, confiscate and destroy the drugs, and prosecute the traffickers. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has tried to provide legal cover for these summary executions in a deeply flawed legal opinion, which it refuses to make public to the American people.”
“At the same time, President Trump has pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former President of Honduras who was convicted of orchestrating a massive conspiracy to flood our country with illegal narcotics… This follows the President’s pardon of another drug kingpin, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. He created the largest online black market for illegal drugs in our nation’s history.”
“Meanwhile, President Trump is targeting communities that didn’t vote for him, like Chicago. Instead of arresting dangerous murderers, rapists, and terrorists, as promised, the Trump Administration is rounding up tens of thousands of immigrants with no criminal history. In Illinois, a mere two and a half percent of immigrants arrested by ICE between September 8 and October 15 had been convicted of a violent crime. Sixty-six percent of the people detained and deported had no criminal history whatsoever.”
“The President is making no secret about his true motivation. I will never forget my 2018 meeting in the Oval Office when the President rejected a bipartisan immigration deal because he didn’t want any more immigrants from ‘s***hole countries.’ There were some questions [about whether] he actually said that for years. He not only said it, he bragged about it at a rally in Pennsylvania… Two Republican Senators claimed I was lying when I confirmed [the comments]. Now, President Trump isn’t hiding his true feelings… This is racism, plain and simple.”
“I want to thank Chairman Grassley for committing to bring Secretary Noem before the Committee before the end of the year. Unfortunately, Secretary Noem has stiff-armed the Committee, refusing to commit to a hearing date. Mr. Chairman, you have the power to issue a subpoena. It will be bipartisan. It is time for Secretary Noem to end her galivanting across this country and come before this Committee and be held accountable by the American people.”
Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.
Durbin then spoke against the nomination of Darin Smith, nominated to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming. Mr. Smith has no criminal or federal court experience; nor has he ever tried a case to verdict, judgment, or final decision. Mr. Smith could not list one significant litigated matter on his Questionnaire submitted to the Committee.
“Seemingly, Mr. Smith’s only qualification is his loyalty to right-wing MAGA orthodoxy. He was on the Capitol grounds on January 6. As my colleagues remember, a violent mob assaulted police officers, destroyed government property, and attempted to thwart our democratic process. Mr. Smith baselessly claimed that the hundreds of Capitol Police officers who risked their lives that day were guilty of ‘massive incompetence.’”
“Without evidence, he claimed that rioters who breached the Capitol were victims of entrapment. Mr. Smith has stood by his radical and dangerous claim that Vice President Pence should not have certified the results of the 2020 election because there were ‘imperfections’ in the process.’ Mr. Smith also falsely claimed that the FBI agents who interviewed him regarding his presence at the Capitol were sent by former Representative Liz Cheney and ‘her goons’ after he demanded that she be censured by the Wyoming Republican Party.”
“I am also troubled by Mr. Smith’s stunning lack of judgment. He baselessly accused Vice President Harris of being a murderer and refused to retract this slanderous comment. He attacked Republican Senators for finding credible the sexual assault allegations made by multiple women against Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and claimed—again without evidence—that the allegations were ‘probably false.’”
“I urge my colleagues that there must be some standard of qualification. To give this kind of power to an individual that has no background, none whatsoever when it comes to criminal or federal court experience, there’s no excuse—please vote no.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the nomination of Mr. Smith is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the nomination of Mr. Smith is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the nomination of Mr. Smith is available here for TV Stations.
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