[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 10, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2817-S2818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IMMIGRATION REFORM

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, let me say a word very quickly about the 
President's speech today in El Paso.
  I have said on the Senate floor many times, because it is a source of 
pride to me, I am a first generation American. One hundred years ago, 
my mother was brought to this country as an infant, 2 years of age. My 
grandmother brought her over from Lithuania, and they landed in 
Baltimore in 1911--100 years ago. How they made it--the four of them, 
at that point: my aunt, uncle, grandmother, and mother--how they made 
it from Baltimore to East St. Louis, IL, I do not have a clue because I 
am sure they did not speak but a handful of words in English.
  They made it like other immigrants made it: because they were 
determined to come to this country. They were prepared to leave 
everything behind in their lives--their homes, their churches, their 
relatives, their friends, their languages, their cultures--and come to 
this great Nation and take the risk, the risk of opportunity. Think 
about that story and multiply it millions of times, and that is the 
story of America.
  The people who hate immigration are turning their back on the heart 
and essence of this great Nation. We are an immigrant nation of people 
of extraordinary courage who picked up and moved and said: We are going 
to try our best in a new place with a new language. When most of them 
arrived--I am sure it was the case with many who were on the boat with 
my mom--there were folks standing on the shoreline saying: No, not more 
of those people. Don't we have enough of them? They don't speak our 
language. They don't look like us. They don't dress like us. They eat 
funny food. They hang out with one another. We don't need more of those 
people.
  For as long as immigrants have been coming to these shores, there 
have been people standing on the shores saying: Please, pull up the 
ladder. We don't need any more of those folks. But we do. We need them 
not only because they work hard, we need them because they have a 
spirit and a determination which makes us a different nation.
  The DNA each of us shares from those immigrant parents and 
grandparents gives us a drive and a determination to make this a better 
nation. When we close the doors to immigration--orderly, legal 
immigration--we are closing the doors of opportunity in this country.
  The President will speak to immigration today. He has been a loyal 
friend of mine for a long time. He was a cosponsor of the DREAM Act, 
which I introduced 10 years ago, and I would not be surprised if he 
brought it up today in El Paso. He did last week in the White House. I 
know he is committed, as I am, to make sure children who were brought 
to the United States as infants and youngsters, who had no voice in the 
decision to come here, who have lived a good life here, worked hard and 
went to school, said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in the 
classroom and know no other flag but the U.S. flag, children who want 
to become tomorrow's adults and tomorrow's leaders deserve a chance. 
The DREAM Act will give them that chance. They can choose to enlist in 
our military and become citizens of the United States, or they can 
choose to complete college, at least 2 years of it, and find a path to 
citizenship. That is reasonable, it is compassionate, and it is fair. I 
hope as part of immigration reform we include it.
  I plead with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Do not 
turn your back on America's heritage. Do not turn your back on fairness 
and compassion. Join us in real immigration reform. Join us in passing 
the DREAM Act.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New York.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, first, I commend my colleague and 
friend from Illinois for his outstanding remarks on both subjects, the 
deficit and on immigration. I am here to talk about the deficit, but I 
will just touch on immigration.
  People are saying, well, why is the President going to El Paso when 
we

[[Page S2818]]

have not made enough progress on immigration? They bring up a point, 
but the President's point is the right one. He is bringing the message 
to the country on why we need real immigration reform.
  I think there is one point on which 100 Members of this Chamber would 
agree: our present immigration system is broken, badly broken. We turn 
away lots of people who should be here. We also do not have a rational 
system for who should come here, and America is the lesser for it. As 
the Senator from Illinois pointed out, immigration is part of our proud 
heritage, and immigrants help America.
  One of the reasons we are doing a lot better than Europe is we have 
welcomed new people into this country, and we integrate them and say: 
As quickly as you can, become Americans. We all came from somewhere 
else originally.
  Now, I am still very hopeful that as the President sets the table and 
let's America know how important this is, we can get bipartisan 
immigration reform done in this Chamber, on the floor of the Senate, 
and even over in the House. It is hard, no question, but I believe, 
first, to get comprehensive reform we need bipartisan support. That is 
obvious. But, secondly, that people see enough need to do it that we 
can actually get it done, particularly if the President goes around the 
country, as he is beginning to do today in El Paso and as he has done 
in the past, and talks about the need for immigration reform, setting 
the table so we can actually get something real done.

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