CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after Senate Republicans jammed through nearly $70 billion to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) without any reforms to the agencies:
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“Not one penny included in this legislation will help struggling American families with the rising cost of gas, groceries, housing, or health care. But Republicans were able to scrounge up $70 billion to support the President’s mass deportation campaign that has terrorized communities in Illinois and across the country and targeted immigrants without a criminal record.
“It’s a shame that—once again—Senate Republicans have bowed to President Trump rather than help the American people.”
During the overnight voting marathon, Durbin’s amendment to redirect $10 million towards timely processing of DACA renewal applications while also restricting ICE and CBP funds in the bill from being used to arrest, deport, detain, or remove DACA recipients received a vote. Ultimately, most Senate Republicans blocked the amendment from passing with a 48-51 vote, making clear that Republicans are willing to greenlight this Administration’s inhumane treatment of immigrants, regardless of their DACA status or lack of criminal record.
