06.25.19

Durbin: President Trump Has Created A National Embarrassment At The Border

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today slammed the Trump Administration for the inhumane conditions at the southwest border and called on the Senate to pass comprehensive immigration reform.  In a speech on the Senate floor, Durbin detailed recent press reports that describe detestable and unacceptable conditions at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility in Clint, Texas, which was holding more than 350 infants, children, and teens. 

“Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear another horror story involving these migrants, and particularly their children and babies,” Durbin said.  “Can’t we move forward in a constructive, bipartisan way to solve this problem, to end this embarrassment?  Once and for all, we’ve got to say to the President, the tweets are not enough.  What this reporter saw, what she reported as stench on the border is something that should be an embarrassment to all of us.  We’re better than that.  We need to prove it.” 

Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor are 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 

Durbin recently visited the Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas, and a nearby Border Patrol Station.  Last month, Durbin led 24 Senators in calling on the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Acting Inspector General to investigate these Border Patrol facilities.  Last month, the DHS Inspector General’s Office released a report detailing the inhumane and dangerous overcrowding of migrants at the El Paso Port of Entry.

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