[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 16 (Saturday, January 25, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S376-S380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Nomination of Kristi Noem
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, pending before the U.S. Senate on this
Saturday morning is the nomination of Governor Kristi Noem of South
Dakota to be the Secretary of Homeland Security in the Cabinet of
President Trump.
I have never met Governor Noem. I had hoped we would have a chance to
get together, but that didn't work out. I made a request for a courtesy
meeting, but we couldn't schedule it. My vote is not contingent on a
person showing up in my office, but I wish we had a chance to meet and
talk about the awesome responsibility she is seeking with this
Department.
The Department of Homeland Security is virtually a creation of 9/11.
That is when the term ``homeland'' starting being used in our highest
levels of our government in an effort to keep America safe from 9/11 or
anything like it happening in the future.
Over the years, it has accepted a major responsibility when it comes
to the issue of immigration, particularly when it comes to making
certain that
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our border processes are orderly and reach our national goals, serve
our national goals and values.
It is interesting to reflect on where we are on the issue of
immigration. A starting point is, we are a nation of immigrants,
period, end of quote. I am the son of an immigrant mother who came to
the United States at the age of 2. I have been fortunate enough to be
entrusted by my State to represent them here in first the House and now
the Senate. I am honored to have that responsibility.
If you visit my office here in the Capitol, you will see behind my
desk my mother's naturalization certificate. I am very proud of it.
Before she passed away, I asked her if she still had it, and although
she was in a compromised health position, she jumped out of her chair,
was gone 2 to 3 minutes at most, and came in with a battered, old,
brown envelope. I opened it, and there was her naturalization
certificate, which I display behind my desk.
I might also say parenthetically that a little slip of paper came out
of that same envelope. I picked it up, and it was a tiny little piece
of paper that said the filing fee of $2.50 had been paid. It was
stamped ``official.''
I said to Mom: Why did you keep this?
She said: If the government ever challenged me, I could prove that I
paid my filing fee of $2.50.
That was my mom, an immigrant lady who worked hard her whole life;
eighth grade education; raised three boys. I think we have tried our
best to confirm her confidence in us and do our best to serve this
country in various ways.
So immigration is personal to me. I am proud of my immigrant roots.
On my father's side, the opposite is true. The family dates back to
before the Revolutionary War. But that is not unusual in America. We
are a gathering of families with many different backgrounds.
Immigration is a central part of who we are as Americans.
The question, of course, before us is, What are we going to do about
problems in immigration? I can tell you that the problems predated Joe
Biden, predated my arrival in Congress, and go back many years.
If you look at the history of immigration in this country, it is a
mixed review. There are times when we embraced immigrants to build
transnational railroad lines and the like, and there are times when we
shunned them and said they were not welcome in this country. It goes
back and forth.
We are now in a period, everyone knows, where immigration on our
borders is a central issue raised in the last Presidential campaign and
certainly on the minds of many voters.
I was fortunate enough a few years ago, in 2013, to join what was
known as the Gang of 8, four Democrats and four Republican Senators who
sat down and said: Let's write a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
And we did. In that group were Senator John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey
Graham, Senator Flake, and Senator Rubio, our new Secretary of State.
On the Democratic side were myself, Senator Schumer, Senator Menendez,
and Senators from various States joined. Senator Feinstein was one of
those who worked toward reaching a goal.
We brought a bill to the floor, a comprehensive bill--I think a good
one. It passed with over 60 votes. Unfortunately, after it was sent to
the House of Representatives, it died without even being debated. We
missed an opportunity there. It tried to address some fundamentals
which I believe should be part of any immigration system in America.
I can tell you what my fundamental values are. I certainly identify
myself as embracing immigration, but when it comes to the process of
immigration, there are certain things that I think are absolutely
essential. I think most Senators of both political parties would agree,
although some would have variations on this theme.
Central to immigration reforms, as far as I am concerned, is an
orderly process at the border, which means that, except in rare
circumstances, people who come through that border gate in an orderly
fashion are to be reviewed and carefully scrutinized before they go a
step further as to their presence.
Secondly, I accept the premise, and I think every American probably
joins in it, saying we never knowingly want to allow a dangerous person
to come into this country, period, end of quote. Secondly, if an
immigrant to this country is involved in dangerous conduct to the rest
of the people who live in this country, we don't want them. They can go
back to where they came from or some other place, but they can't stay
here in the United States.
The third reality is one that is tough because it is easy to say and
hard to live with, and that is, we cannot accept everyone who wants to
come into America tomorrow. It just has to be done in a thoughtful,
orderly way that is in the best interest of our Nation and the people
who live here first.
We have, for example, to allow people to come into this country if
they bring skills that are necessary for our future, but we have to
offer opportunities to people who are already in this country, citizens
and those legally in America, for an economic opportunity in the
future. They are our highest priority and should be.
Having said that, the Department of Homeland Security, which Governor
Noem is seeking to lead, is now embarking on a new era, the new Trump
47 era, where ``mass deportation'' is the catchphrase of the day.
Let me give you an illustration of what mass deportation could mean.
We don't know for sure how it will be implemented, but I am very
concerned.
We had a hearing this week with President Trump's Agriculture
Secretary, Ms. Rollins from the State of Texas. I asked her a question
which I think raises a valid concern about mass deportation.
Currently, we know that we need immigrants and migrant labor as a
critical part of agriculture.
When the Illinois Farm Bureau comes to meet with me, they frequently
raise the issue of immigration. In what way? Well, for example, a
member of the Farm Bureau has a dairy operation in northwestern
Illinois. She said to me that it was the third generation of her family
with that dairy operation.
If you know anything about dairy operations, they are labor-
intensive. Those cows have to be milked twice a day, and you better be
ready to do it and do it with frequency if you want to continue a
successful dairy operation. It involves a lot of manpower. It used to
be--there was a time when dairy families in my State and others had a
bunch of kids because the kids were all ultimately going to be part of
the family operation. Those kids are not sticking around dairy farms as
much as they used to, and so those who want to keep the dairy farms in
operation need workers.
It is almost virtually impossible to find American workers on these
dairy operations because it is such tough work, and so migrant labor
becomes a critical part of the operations in dairy.
I can recall this lady said to me: If I can't get migrant laborers to
work on my dairy farm in northwestern Illinois, this is the end of it,
Senator. We can't continue. I don't have enough family members, and
certainly there are not kids or anyone--workers in town--who is anxious
to get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and start milking cows. That is
part of my lifestyle.
Similarly, a lady from the Illinois Farm Bureau said: Well, now that
we are on the subject, I have an orchard in Southern Illinois. We grow
peaches and apples. I will tell you that I have given up the thought of
hiring any local young people to work in my orchard operation. They
just won't do it.
She said: I have even got a fruit stand out by the highway. I have
enclosed it, I have air-conditioned it, and I still can't get young
people to man the cash registers and sell the apples and the peaches on
the side of the road. They just don't like doing it. So I rely every
year on migrant labor to come pick the crop and even to work the fruit
stand out by the highway. That is the reality.
She said: I am done if I can't get migrant workers.
So let's put that into context of mass deportation. We estimate that
40 percent of ag workers today are undocumented. That means that
literally they are working, in most cases--in many cases, I should
say--without legal authority. They come regularly from Mexico usually
or other countries nearby to work in the fields and go back home at a
certain point. They are illegal while they are here, but they are
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doing valuable work. They are paid for it. It is back-breaking work,
things that people just don't ordinarily want to do.
Now let's put that in the context of mass deportation. If the Trump
administration decides to use the Department of Homeland Security,
which Governor Noem is seeking to head, to enforce mass deportations,
what is going to happen in that orchard? What is going to happen on
that dairy farm? What is going to happen in so many agricultural
pursuits where migrant labor, undocumented labor, is critical to the
operation? Well, I can tell you, in many instances, they will be
removing the very workers who pick the crop. So what does that mean to
Mr. and Mrs. America? Go to the grocery store, to the produce section,
and look at the selection you have today. Mark it in your mind because
it may not be there tomorrow if the people who pick the crop, who grow
the crop, who man and provide resources for the dairy operations are
gone. Many of these farm operations will be gone with them.
I asked Ms. Rollins, who is seeking to be the Secretary of
Agriculture: Are you going to warn the people in agriculture States,
like Illinois and Texas, that mass deportation is a threat to their
workforce?
She said: Of course.
She wouldn't answer that directly. I wasn't surprised by that, but it
is an indication of the complication of mass deportation.
Take what I have just said and apply it to so many other industries.
The hospitality industry is a good indication. How many people are
cleaning those hotel rooms that you stayed in last night who are
undocumented? A lot.
Another area that I think is really critical is when it comes to
caregivers. When you leave your child or grandchild at the daycare
center in the morning and head off to work or to whatever your
assignment may be for the day, you entrust the most precious part of
your life--that little child or grandchild--in many instances, to an
undocumented worker. They don't get paid as much as most, and they have
an awesome responsibility. I think every parent and grandparent would
agree. You want to make sure they are good and talented and qualified
and show up to work.
The same is true when it comes to caregivers for those seniors. Your
mother or your grandmother went down to breakfast this morning at the
care facility and luckily had by her side one of the workers or
caregivers who escorted her carefully back to her room. We all know
that, at a certain age, a fall can be literally deadly and cost a
person's life, so you count on that worker.
Now, if you go into mass deportation and start removing the
undocumented workers from childcare facilities and senior facilities
and nursing home facilities, how many people will be prejudiced and
hurt by that? I am afraid very many.
So this notion of cleaning the ranks and ridding ourselves of
undocumented people in this country we have to give some thought to. If
they are dangerous, if they have committed a crime, no questions asked,
they have to go. And it has to be a serious crime, not just an arrest
for shoplifting, for example. I personally believe they should not only
be charged with a crime but prosecuted. But if that happens, they are
gone, period, and I think most people would agree with that.
So Governor Noem's aspiration to head this Agency comes at a critical
moment in history. The economy in this country is about to change with
mass deportation.
We estimate there are roughly about 11 million people in this country
undocumented, meaning that they are here not in legal status. How did
they get here? In a variety of ways. They overstayed visas in most
instances. Some of them came across the border--that is for sure--but
many of them came into this country as students or tourists and stayed,
and they comprise the largest share of the 11 million undocumented
people in this country.
I think we dealt with this issue in a responsible way in the
bipartisan comprehensive bill. Here is what we said, and I want to make
it clear that I think this is a thoughtful and sensible way to
approach it on a bipartisan basis: If you are undocumented in this
country, under our bill, you are required legally to step forward, to
identify yourself, to pay a fee to remain in this country. You would
then be registered by the government. We would know who you are, where
you are. You would pay your taxes while you are working and make your
contributions to Social Security and other funds. It would be enforced
by something called E-Verify, where every employer in this country
would be required to check and make sure that the person who is working
and undocumented was, in fact, registered with the government.
That, to me, is a thoughtful way to make sure that we are safe, that
we still have the workers we need, and to say to those who are here in
an undocumented status: You may stay. We are not guaranteeing your
citizenship, although I personally believe that they should be given a
path to citizenship, but it is a starting point and a sensible one.
We would say to those workers at the dairy farm in northwestern
Illinois: Keep working, but now you are going to have your own Social
Security number and your own requirement for paying taxes on a personal
basis, as an example.
So it is a little bit different than what President Trump has
envisioned. His sounds a lot different in many respects. But it is an
indication of the awesome responsibility that Governor Noem will have
if she becomes the Secretary of Homeland Security.
Our border must be secure, and we certainly, as I said earlier, must
deport any dangerous individuals who are here illegally. The approach
that I have heard--it will remain to be seen what happens by President
Trump and his DHS Secretary nominee, Kristi Noem--is not just targeted
at criminals; it is aimed at legal migrant immigrants and immigrant
families who have lived in our country--many of them--for decades and
are pillars of our community.
Without fail, I can predict what is going to happen if President
Trump pursues his approach. In community after community in Tennessee
and in Illinois, we will discover undocumented people to our surprise.
I didn't know that that man from Mexico, running the restaurant in
southern Illinois--the popular restaurant that people love to go to on
Friday and Saturday nights--I didn't know he was undocumented. I can't
believe they are going to deport him. We are going to hear stories like
that over and over again of people we sit next to at church, count on
every day in our business dealings, see at the nursing homes, see at
the daycare facilities, who will be subject to deportation.
It is not just those who are undocumented. Many times, it appears to
be, they are going to say to their children, who were born in the
United States and who are legal citizens under the 14th Amendment to
the Constitution, that they have to leave as well. There is no basis
for that to happen in law or in the Constitution, and yet I am afraid
that might be the future.
We have already seen President Trump suspend the Refugee Admissions
Program, which provides a safe haven for those fleeing oppressive
regimes around the world, including people from Afghanistan who
literally risked their lives to help American soldiers survive in that
wartime context. Some of those people are being threatened now with
exclusion and deportation.
Many refugee applicants wait decades to come to the United States
lawfully, and all of them go through rigorous vetting. I am talking
about not months but years of background checks before they can be
considered as refugees in this country. When they have waited so long
under difficult circumstances, that seems fundamentally unfair.
The Trump administration has already canceled flights for over 1,600
Afghan refugees who are scheduled to come here, including the families
of Active-Duty U.S. military personnel and those who are at risk
because they fought for the United States--on the side of the United
States in Afghanistan.
I have a particular situation in Chicago, which I am honored to
represent. We have a section of that city--one of my favorites. It is
known as Ukrainian Village. It goes without saying that so many people
from Ukraine have family and relatives in the Chicagoland area. There
are great restaurants and bakeries and churches and schools. It is a
vibrant part of the city of Chicago.
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This is something most people don't know: When the Governor of Texas
decided to send thousands of undocumented people to the city of
Chicago, it caused a lot of upheaval and change overnight, and many of
those people had to be helped by units of government--the State of
Illinois, the city of Chicago, and others. At the same time, those
50,000 people were being slowly integrated into the local economy. Most
of them now don't live in any government-sponsored facility, but they
have their own lives, and they are working at this point.
At the same time that happened, another 50,000 came into Chicago from
Ukraine. Because of the war in that country and the displacement of
people in that war, we were offered an opportunity under the Biden
administration for those Ukrainians to come to the United States under
two conditions. First, they have a sponsoring family, and second, they
have a job waiting for them. They wouldn't be dependent on government
programs for their survival. We did that, and almost no one noticed.
These Ukrainians had become part of the community in the Chicago
greater region and have become part of the economy. They have been
accepted and embraced. Now they face the real prospect of mass
deportation as well. Where are we going to send them? Where are they
going? This war in Ukraine makes it virtually impossible for them to
return to what was their home.
So I hope that, as we reflect on mass deportation, we realize there
are complicating factors in many of these circumstances.
Stopping the flights to America will not make life any easier for
those who have applied for refugee status, and it sends a message in
Afghanistan to our allies and troops around the world that we will not
stand by and support and be friends with those who risk their lives for
our soldiers.
President Trump has announced his plan to attempt to deny citizenship
to children born in the United States if their parents are not citizens
or lawful permanent residents. I don't know if I have a copy at my desk
here that I am supposed to have. Oh, here it is. I would like to read
to you the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. I hope everyone gets a
chance to take a look at it for themselves on this whole question of
whether someone can be born in the United States and become a citizen.
That has been the law in this country for over 140 years. It really is
a provision of the Constitution which is explicit.
Here is what the 14th Amendment says:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the State wherein they reside.
That is the first sentence of the 14th Amendment.
So when President Trump says that he is opposed to birthright
citizenship and challenges it, it was no wonder that the court issued
an injunction or a temporary restraining order and stopped him
immediately, saying--and this was a judge who was appointed by Ronald
Reagan--that the Constitution is explicit.
We have to make sure that our policy when it comes to immigration is
consistent with our Constitution and consistent with our values. For
many years in this country--over 100 now--that has been very clear,
that birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Constitution.
Kristi Noem, the Governor of South Dakota, has said she wants to end
birthright citizenship. She has described the southern border as a war
zone and called unauthorized immigration an ``invasion.'' Governor Noem
was the first Governor to deploy the National Guard to the southern
border and sent them a total of eight times during her tenure. I was
disappointed she refused my request to meet as I wanted to ask her a
few questions about those decisions.
As I said before, we need to secure our border, so I worked for years
to pass bipartisan legislation. But we also need to protect millions of
noncitizens who Americans rely on each and every day.
Immigrants make up 40 percent of our agricultural workers and 40
percent of our home health aides. They are an outsized percentage of
the childcare workforce and farm workforce in America. If they are
gone, the cost of daycare for families is going to go up because there
will be fewer workers.
Immigrants have been a key part of the American success story. Our
Nation, I believe, needs them more than ever, in a thoughtful way.
Remember the three elements that I stand for, and I hope most people
agree: One, we need an orderly process at the border; No. 2, no
dangerous person should ever be allowed knowingly into this country or
allowed to stay if they are seeking permanent immigrant status; and,
No. 3, we cannot accept every person in the world who wants to come to
America tomorrow. It has to be a thoughtful, orderly process,
consistent with our values and consistent with our obligation to
American families.
They do not deserve--those who are here--to live in fear each day.
Any real solution to immigration challenges must give them stability
and a future that they can count on.
Americans deserve a real fix to our broken immigration system that
protects American workers and treats immigrants fairly.
This pending nomination is a critical one. It may be the hottest
topic in Washington today. I look forward to the opportunity to meet
Governor Noem at some point to hear more about her intentions.
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Marshall). The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, everybody knows that except for Native
Americans, this great Nation of ours is a nation of immigrants.
We are one of the most welcoming nations in the world, maybe the most
welcoming to immigrants, because about a million people come here every
year legally.
My family has been blessed by two: a daughter-in-law of 45 years from
South Korea and a granddaughter-in-law of about 6 or 7 years from
Ethiopia. I have learned much from them. And I think America is great
because of the people that come here.
But we are also a nation based on the rule of law. We have not seen
that immigration law enforced over the last 4 years. So I am going to
be voting for Governor Noem because she is committed to enforcing our
immigration laws.
I think Secretary Mayorkas felt in his heart that America ought to be
a land of opportunity, the opportunity for anybody who wanted to come
here. He said he was enforcing the laws, but we know that he wasn't
enforcing laws because you saw, every night on TV, people crossing the
Rio Grande coming to this country and violating our laws as they
entered.
We all know that if you are going to be a sovereign nation, you have
got to control your borders. We can't have millions of people coming
here in violation of our laws--people who are on the Terrorist
Watchlist, people with criminal records, everybody just willy-nilly
coming here. We are that land of opportunity but also a land of the
rule of law.
We are seeing deportations going on now with priority on people who
are criminals or on the Terrorist Watchlist. We are hearing some
economists and some business people saying our economy is in jeopardy
if we deport these people, but no employer is going to hire somebody on
the Terrorist Watchlist if they know that they are. No employer is
going to hire somebody with a criminal record if they know about that
criminal record. So let's talk about the impact of deportation on the
economy after people with criminal records, after people who are on the
Terrorist Watchlist, and the 1.2 or 1.3 million people who have been
adjudicated who did not meet the test of our law so they could legally
be in this country, to have those three categories of people deported.
Then maybe let's talk about the impact on the economy after that. But I
think that is quite a few months down the road.
One other reason that I am voting for Governor Noem--and this is a
repeat of what I said last night on the floor of the U.S. Senate in
regard of Pete Hegseth being Secretary of Defense. When these people
who are nominees come to my office, I point out to them a couple of
things: No. 1, I always say, You are going to be asked if you will
answer our letters. And everybody for decades has been saying yes to
that.
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And I point out to them how they ought to really say ``maybe,'' because
I use the last 4 years of the Garland Department of Justice as an
example, showing these nominees, when they come to my office, a pile of
about 158 letters that the Department of Justice and the FBI haven't
appropriately answered, even after they said they had answered all of
our letters.
Now, that may be tongue in cheek--``maybe''--when I tell them that.
But I think we have a responsibility to make sure in our constitutional
job of oversight to see that the laws are faithfully executed and when
we contact the administration when we think things are wrong, that we
are entitled to an answer.
This isn't a problem just in a Democrat administration; this is also
a problem in Republican administrations.
So I asked the new Secretary of Defense that question. He said he was
going to be diligent about that. And I discussed the same thing with
Governor Noem as well because we ought to have cooperation of the
executive branch of government in Congress doing its job of oversight.
I am satisfied that Governor Noem will, to the best of her ability,
help us with our oversight abilities and even help us get answers to
those left over from the Biden administration.
I think Governor Noem is very well-qualified to be Secretary of
Homeland Security. I wish her well in the enforcement of law and
reemphasize that a border security is very important not only for the
sovereignty of this great Nation of ours, because you can't be a
sovereign nation if you don't control the borders; and, secondly, for
our national security because you can't have people on the Terrorist
Watchlist coming to this country and invading us; and also for law
enforcement because you can't have people with criminal records coming
to this country.
It is a big job that is left over from the last 4 years of a
Secretary of Homeland Security who wasn't enforcing the law. I think
Governor Noem is up to the task, and we wish her well as she proceeds
down this road of making sure that the sovereignty of the United States
is protected, our national security is protected, and we have a safe
nation based upon law enforcement being able to do its job.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.