Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Immigration
Durbin, Cardin, Raskin Lead Colleagues In Urging DHS Secretary To Protect Stateless Persons In The U.S.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and U.S. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8); along with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety; and U.S. Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; and colleagues from the U.S. Senate a… Continue Reading
06.20.24
On World Refugee Day, Durbin Leads Nearly 70 Members Of Congress In Letter Urging Administration To Consider Certain Palestinians Fleeing Gaza For Refugee Status
WASHINGTON – On World Refugee Day, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representatives Greg Casar (TX-35), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), and Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) led 69 members of Congress on a bicameral letter urging the Biden Administration to consider refugee status for certain Palestinians fleeing Gaza—namely those with U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family members. In the letter sent today to U.S. Secretary of State Anton… Continue Reading
06.18.24
Durbin Applauds President Biden's Announcement Of Relief For Undocumented Immigrants
CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today applauded President Joe Biden’s announcement to offer relief to hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including DACA holders and undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens. Today’s announcement offers relief to certain undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens, which will protect these individuals from deportation, offer them work permits, and ease their path toward permanent r… Continue Reading
06.04.24
Durbin Statement On President Biden's Southern Border Executive Action
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding President Biden’s executive action on the southern border: “Nearly four months ago, Congress had an opportunity to help secure the border with the bipartisan border bill. Instead, in a stunning reversal, my Senate Republican colleagues opposed this bipartisan agreement, refusing to address these pressing issues, completely disregarding their urgenc… Continue Reading
05.08.24
Durbin Questions Witnesses During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On The Urgent Need To Protect Dreamers
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 “Dream Deferred: The Urgent Need to Protect Immigrant Youth.” The hearing emphasized the urgent need for Congress to pass legal protections for noncitizens who were brought to the United States as children. These young people, known as Dreamers, have lived in America since they were children, built their lives here, … Continue Reading
09.15.22
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 R… Continue Reading
09.14.22
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 deser… Continue Reading
09.14.22
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. heal… Continue Reading
09.13.22
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 Lithu… Continue Reading
08.24.22
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 p… Continue Reading
08.01.22
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 Sena… Continue Reading
08.01.22
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 meani… Continue Reading
06.22.22
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 our … Continue Reading
06.15.22
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 country… Continue Reading
06.14.22
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 for … Continue Reading
06.14.22
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 legis… Continue Reading
03.16.22
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 Pr… Continue Reading
03.01.22
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 cards. … Continue Reading
11.03.21
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 o… Continue Reading
11.02.21
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 Build… Continue Reading