12.01.16

Durbin Pushes to Protect DREAMers from Deportation

Begins to Craft Bipartisan Legislation to Shield DREAMers until Congress Passes Immigration Reform

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today continued his push to ensure that the young immigrants known as DREAMers remain shielded from deportation under a Trump Administration. Every day this week, Durbin has gone to the floor of the United States Senate and shared the stories of DREAMers at risk of deportation if the President-elect does not continue President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
  
Durbin also announced that he is working with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to craft a potential legislative solution that would provide a temporary stay of deportation for young immigrants while Congress works on legislation to fix our broken immigration system.
  
“My concern and the concern shared by millions across America is what is going to happen to these young kids – 744,000 of them who are currently in college, in high school, currently in professional schools, medical schools, and law schools. They're doing amazing things with their lives and yet things can happen immediately that change their status,” said Durbin. “I’ve talked to a number of my colleagues on the floor, on both sides of the aisle about this, and there are strong emotions in favor of helping these young people. One of the leaders on this has been my friend and ally on some immigration issues – and that’s Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He and I talked about introducing legislation that would give a temporary stay so that these young people could be protected until Congress does its work and comes up with an immigration bill that addresses this issue and many more. Senator Graham and I discussed it again this morning, and we hope to even have this bill ready before we leave next week, a bipartisan effort to say to the new president, ‘give these young people a fighting chance. At least protect them until we've had a chance to act on the larger immigration issues before us.’ I hope that colleagues on both sides will join us.”
  
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 for TV Stations using FTP in high definition and standard definition.
  
Senator Durbin has been a leading voice in the fight to protect young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. In April 2010, he was the first member of Congress to call for the establishment of DACA. Durbin has shared the stories of more than 75 DREAMers on the Senate floor since he introduced the original DREAM Act fifteen years ago. He was also a member of the “Gang of 8” Republicans and Democrats who authored comprehensive immigration legislation that passed the Senate in 2013.