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Durbin Questions Witnesses During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Immigrant Workers, Agriculture, And Need For Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled, "From Farm to Table: Immigrant Workers Get the Job Done." The hearing highlighted how immigrant workers are essential to put food on our tables, the need for immigration reform to help American farms and businesses, and the importance of protections and fair wages for both domestic and immigrant workers. Durbin … Continue Reading
May 31, 2023
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Immigrant Workers, Agriculture, And Need For Immigration Reform
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled, "From Farm to Table: Immigrant Workers Get the Job Done." The hearing will highlight how immigrant workers are essential to put food on our tables, the need for immigration reform to help American farms and businesses, and the importance of protections and fair wages for both domestic and immigrant … Continue Reading
September 15, 2022
Durbin, Padilla Request Additional Humanitarian Assistance Funding For Communities & Organizations Aiding Migrant Families
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, led eight of their Senate colleagues in a letter to Senate Appropriations Committee leadership urging them to provide additional humanitarian assistance funding for FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) in the upcoming government funding stop-gap bill. As … Continue Reading
September 14, 2022
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Hearing on Our Health Care Workforce
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety hearing entitled "Flatlining Care: Why Immigrants Are Crucial to Bolstering Our Health Care Workforce." Today's hearing will explore how immigrants can help fill gaps in our health care system to ensure that our communities have access to the health care they need and … Continue Reading
September 14, 2022
Durbin Questions Witnesses During Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Hearing On Our Health Care Workforce
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety hearing entitled "Flatlining Care: Why Immigrants Are Crucial to Bolstering Our Health Care Workforce." Today's hearing explored how immigrants can help fill gaps in our health care system to ensure that our communities have access to the health care they need and deserve. The U.S. … Continue Reading
September 13, 2022
Durbin: We Should Work Together to Create an Immigration System that Reflects the Best of America
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reflected on his recent visit to the Salvation Army Freedom Center in the Humboldt Park neighborhood in Chicago to meet with migrant families who were forced to come to Chicago from Texas by Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX). During his speech, Durbin praised Chicago's agencies for stepping up to support these migrants. Durbin's mother is an immigrant who came from … Continue Reading
August 24, 2022
Durbin Statement On DHS Regulation To Preserve And Fortify DACA
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, today released the following statement regarding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issuing a final rule that aims to preserve and fortify Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) for certain eligible noncitizens who arrived in the United States as children, deferring their removal and allowing them an opportunity to access a renewable, two-year work … Continue Reading
August 01, 2022
Durbin, Colleagues Continue To Press ICE On Overuse Of Solitary Confinement
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Alex Padilla (D-CA) today sent a second letter to Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tae D. Johnson regarding ICE's overuse of solitary confinement in detention facilities. Today's letter follows Acting Director Johnson's response to the … Continue Reading
August 01, 2022
Durbin, Warnock, Senate Democrats Call On Biden Administration To Increase The Rate Of Refugee Admissions
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) today led 28 of their Senate Democratic colleagues in calling on the Biden Administration to work urgently to increase the rate of refugee admissions for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. In a letter to President Joe Biden, the Senators further urge the President to maintain or increase the target of 125,000 refugee admissions in FY 2023 and take … Continue Reading
June 22, 2022
Durbin: If We Want To Ease Inflation And Help Solve America's Worker Shortage, We Need To Drastically Increase The Number Of Immigrants We Welcome To America
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today spoke about the pressure inflation is putting on working American families and one way that Congress can help - drastically increasing the number of immigrants we welcome into the United States to help ease labor shortages. "Inflation is the word on everyone's mind. We see proof of it plastered on gas stations throughout the country and in the aisles of … Continue Reading
June 15, 2022
Durbin Celebrates 10th Anniversary Of DACA, Calls On Congress To Finally Pass The Dream Act
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, today celebrated the 10th anniversary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and called on Congress to finally pass the Dream Act to give Dreamers a pathway to citizenship. Twenty-one years ago, Durbin first introduced the Dream Act-bipartisan legislation that would give undocumented immigrants who grew up in this … Continue Reading
June 14, 2022
Durbin Questions DACA Recipient In Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing On Immigration
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned Dalia Larios, a resident at Harvard's Radiation Oncology Program and the first DACA recipient to be admitted to Harvard Medical School, at the "Strengthening our Workforce and Economy through Higher Education and Immigration" Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety hearing. The hearing comes one day before the tenth anniversary of Deferred Action … Continue Reading
June 14, 2022
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement At Immigration Subcommittee Hearing
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the "Strengthening our Workforce and Economy through Higher Education and Immigration" Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety hearing. The hearing comes one day before the tenth anniversary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). During his opening statement, Durbin highlighted the need for Congress to pass … Continue Reading
March 16, 2022
Durbin, Leahy, Padilla, Merkley, Colleagues Encourage Biden Administration's Efforts To Provide A Just Resolution For Families Separated Under The Former President's Cruel "Zero-Tolerance" Policy
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration; and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) today sent a letter to President Biden joined by 16 Senate colleagues voicing their support for his Administration's continued efforts to provide a just resolution for families who were separated under former … Continue Reading
March 01, 2022
Durbin, Colleagues Introduce Legislation To Increase Number Of Green Cards, Eliminating The Backlog
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Resolving Extended Limbo for Immigrant Employees and Families (RELIEF) Act, legislation to eliminate the family and employment green card backlog by increasing the number of green cards. Almost four million future Americans are on the State Department's immigrant visa waiting list, in addition to hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. who are also waiting for green … Continue Reading
November 03, 2021
Durbin Calls For HHS OIG Investigation & ORR Action On Recent Report Concerning Afghan Refugee Children Being Cared For At Shelter In Illinois
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent letters to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and HHS' Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) calling on these offices to immediately address allegations included in a disturbing ProPublica report concerning Afghan refugee children being cared for at a Heartland Alliance shelter in Bronzeville, Illinois. The report details allegations … Continue Reading
November 02, 2021
Ahead of Veterans Day, Durbin Highlights How Immigration System Remains Broken Even For Those Who Want To Serve Our Nation
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor ahead of Veterans Day, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, today discussed the impact and sacrifice immigrant veterans have made to our country-yet how our immigration system remains broken even for those who would put their life on the line to defend our freedoms. Durbin also discussed Senate Democrats' continued efforts to include immigration provisions in the … Continue Reading
October 28, 2021
Durbin Statement On Immigration In Build Back Better Reconciliation Framework
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the inclusion of immigration in President Biden's Build Back Better reconciliation framework: "Millions of undocumented people live in this country and contribute to our economy. They deserve to live, work, and travel without fear of deportation. President Biden understands this. That's why he included immigration reform in his Build Back Better … Continue Reading
September 28, 2021
Durbin Statement On Refugee Consultation With Biden Administration
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after participating in a statutorily-required refugee consultation between the Biden-Harris Administration and House and Senate Judiciary Committee leadership: "The number of refugees admitted in Fiscal Year 2021 - around 12,000 - is a disappointment. The dismantling of programs by the Trump Administration has hindered our efforts to accept more of the … Continue Reading
September 28, 2021
Durbin: Immigration Reform Will Drive Our Nation's Economic Recovery For Years To Come
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead author of the Dream Act, today discussed the economic impact of immigration reform to our nation's economic recovery and Senate Democrats' continued efforts to include immigration provisions in the Build Back Better reconciliation package. He also discussed his visit to Little Village in Chicago last week with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA). They met … Continue Reading