Durbin Questions Witnesses At Spotlight Forum On The Trump Administration’s Abuse Of Immigrants To Attack Our Constitutional Order
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a spotlight forum entitled “Cruel and Unamerican: The Abuse of Immigrants to Attack our Constitutional Order.” Durbin first questioned Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a 19-year-old Dreamer, who was wrongfully arrested after being misidentified at a traffic stop, about her experience with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.
“What a heartbreaking story you’ve told us. Two and a half weeks in prison… were there any others [that had similar] circumstances that had been arrested by ICE or authorities for immigration issues?” Durbin asked.
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Ms. Arias-Cristobal responded that there were many people in the same situation as her. She said, “a lot of people were ripped away from the comfort of their own home, a lot of them walking on the side of the street, and a lot of them went to their court date and got ripped away there. There’s a lot of people being taken by ICE.”
“I look at your situation and there’s only one ray of hope in the whole thing. When you say your community rallied around you, even those who were maybe not politically on your side—tell us about that?” Durbin asked.
Ms. Arias-Cristobal responded that her situation with ICE “isn’t an immigration problem, it’s a human rights problem.” And when members of the community saw Ms. Arias-Cristobal, who came to the U.S. at the age of four and is a student and active member of the community, was taken to a detention center, it became clear they needed to rally around her.
Durbin then asked Laura Smith, Executive Director and Supervising Attorney at the Children’s Legal Center of Chicago, about ICE arrests happening at immigration supervision sites.
“They’re [immigrants] complying with what they believe to be the law of the land, [they] show up in court, and if the charge is… dismissed against them, it appears that they’re arrested on the spot and taken away. Have you seen this yourself?” Durbin asked.
Ms. Smith responded that in Chicago, ICE has been in the hallways of the Chicago immigration court with a box full of handcuffs, ready to arrest people as they leave their immigration proceedings. She then proceeded to say her clients are set up for failure no matter what—they are worried to show up to their court date and get arrested and in turn, are afraid to miss their court date, and get arrested.
“An absolute catch-22… and what a miscarriage of justice it’s been,” Durbin responded.
Durbin then asked Professor Mary McCord, Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown Law, about President Trump using military authority to address immigration protests. President Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines to California, despite no request from Governor Gavin Newsom.
“How and when do you think this will be resolved in court?” Durbin asked.
Professor McCord went on to say that Governor Newsom has sued the Administration over this unlawful federalization of the National Guard and use of the military. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
She continued to say, “But as you know, that will only be the beginning of this. This is something where we can expect this will go up and likely eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Durbin concluded, “I’m frustrated by the fact that the President is doing this without legal or constitutional authority. I’m frustrated by the fact that we are in the minority in Congress and can’t have a fulsome debate of the whole [Senate Judiciary] Committee and consideration of legislation, but I’m heartened by the fact that this President has lost over 90 percent of the cases, which he has brought to court to try to enforce his executive orders.”
This forum examined the Trump Administration’s ongoing abuse of immigrants to attack the fundamental rights of all Americans. The United States Constitution lays out certain fundamental principles that define our country, including freedom of speech, due process, and the separation of powers. This Administration has used immigration to attempt to undermine our constitutional order and the rule of law, including—unprecedented attacks on due process, including arbitrary arrests and the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport noncitizens to El Salvador without a hearing; deploying the National Guard over the objections of local authorities; sending masked agents to arrest noncitizens for speech and expression protected by the First Amendment; disappearing noncitizens to El Salvador, South Sudan, and Guantanamo, with threats to send “homegrown criminals” next; and dismantling congressionally authorized oversight, including shuttering oversight offices and arresting a member of Congress attempting to conduct oversight.
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