[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 3, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S453-S455]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Department of Homeland Security
Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I rise to talk about the issue that will
dominate attention in the Senate between now and next Friday, Friday
the 13th, a discussion about reforms to the Department of Homeland
Security and the activities it has engaged in all around the country.
It is common, during the 13 years that I have been in the Senate, for
folks to talk about immigrants as a problem. It is very uncommon for
people to take this floor and talk about immigrants as a strength. And
based on my experience in 31 years now, coming on 32, in elected office
in Virginia, I believe immigrants are a strength and not a problem.
That doesn't mean there aren't issues that we need to resolve, but I
think it is high time that people in this Chamber talked about
immigrants to this country and recognized the strengths that they
bring.
President Trump and his administration have launched upon an
unprecedented campaign against immigrants--immigrant crackdowns in
Virginia and elsewhere. And the claim of the administration and many
who support it is that this is because of a desire to protect Americans
and rid American streets of criminals.
I maintain that President Trump has, instead, demeaned and
dehumanized immigrants and their countries of origin since day one of
his political career for matters completely unrelated to public safety.
And since he has been in power to be President, both in his first term
and now this term, he has thrown everything he can at keeping people
out and even rounding people up who he views as the wrong kind of
people, the ``other.'' His efforts to round
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up thousands and thousands of people he views as ``the other'' on
spurious charges and without due process are sweeping up all kinds of
people, including children, and they are hurting our country, hurting
our economy, and hurting my Commonwealth.
I would like to start with what the President has said. These
policies are motivated by a President who has said a number of things
about the immigrant community, and I think these express the basic
motivations for his actions. There is a beautiful phrase in the New
Testament that says: From the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.
On this topic, the President has a very full heart, and he has spoken
very plainly about his motivation.
In the speech marking the beginning of his campaign in 2016, day one,
President Trump embarked on a tirade against Mexicans and Mexican-
Americans saying:
When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their
best . . . they're sending people that have lots of problems
. . . they're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're
rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
So most of them are bad--drug addicts, criminals, rapists--but some
are good people. That is the very essence of bigotry and
discrimination, and we know that to be a lie.
One of President Trump's first actions when he became President in
2017 was to impose a ban on people entering the country if they were
coming from countries that were predominantly Muslim in nature. It
wasn't based on the vetting of an individual to determine if they posed
a problem. If you are a Muslim, if you come from a country that was
predominantly Muslim, you are banned--the very essence of bigotry and
discrimination. That policy was struck down by the Supreme Court. The
administration recalibrated it to do it in a different way, but the
President revealed what is his motivation.
A few months into his first term, he said in an Oval Office meeting
of top officials that he thought that Haitians ``all have AIDS''--a
despicable and discriminatory lie.
And he also said in that same meeting, we should keep Nigerian
immigrants out of the United States because, if they come to America,
they would never ``go back to their huts''--derogatory, discriminatory.
I don't like to curse. I am not perfect at this, but I don't like to
curse. And when I try, I can't do it convincingly. And I don't like to
quote people who are cursing, but I am going to do that because I don't
think this should be sanitized.
Later in his first term at a meeting with top Cabinet officials and
the White House staff and Senators, President Trump said:
Why do we want all these people from shithole countries
coming here?
Now at the time when that was revealed, the President denied it, said
he had not used that phrase. But we know that that was a lie because,
recently, at rallies he has been acknowledging that he used that
phrase, and he still uses that phrase. Just a few months ago, he loudly
and proudly repeated the same line. He said:
Remember I said that to the senators that came in, the
Democrats. They wanted to be bipartisan. So they came in . .
. we had a meeting. And I say: Why is it we only take people
from shithole countries, right?
This is the President recently acknowledging that language,
discriminatory and bigoted language.
Why can't we have some people from Norway, Sweden--just a
few--let us have a few from Denmark--do you mind sending us a
few people? Send us some nice people, do you mind? But we
always take people from Somalia. Places that are a disaster,
right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.
Bigoted and discriminatory--linger on that for a second. Some nice
people from Scandinavia, instead of filthy or dirty places like
Somalia.
Recently the President, after canceling many refugee programs from
other nations--including Cuba--opened up a path for refugees to come
from South Africa if--if--they are Afrikaners. South Africa has all
kinds of ethnic groups. Afrikaners are just one. The path that the
President opened for refugees coming to the United States from South
Africa was limited to Afrikaners, even though Afrikaners are
represented in the current National Unity government of South Africa,
but he claimed that Afrikaners are being persecuted.
Notice a few months later, he also claimed that Nigerians were being
persecuted if they were Christians, and he used military action against
Nigeria, but he wouldn't open up a path for Nigerians to come to the
United States.
He asserts that Afrikaners are being persecuted against, and so we
will have a refugee program for them. But Nigerians who are being
persecuted, even for their Christian faith, there is no refugee path
for them. What is the difference between an Afrikaner and a Nigerian
subject to persecution? I think we all know the answer to the question.
So if you support President Trump's immigration policies, I think you
have to look in the mirror and grapple with the fact that his
motivation is about fundamentally not liking people of different skin
colors from continents or countries that he views as disfavorable or
who come from religious backgrounds that he views as disfavorable.
Anyone supporting President Trump's policies ought to look in the
mirror and ask if that is a motivation that you share or is that a
motivation you reject?
Let me turn now from the President's motivations that explain this
entire policy to the actual actions. President Trump's immigration
crackdown has been violent. It has been inhumane. It has rounded up
innocent people--mothers, children. It has rounded up U.S. citizens.
The visceral disdain for immigrants, but particularly for those who
don't look like him or from countries he doesn't like, has led to a
crackdown that has far exceeded--far exceeded--the stated claim that it
is about law enforcement and public safety. While he and his enablers
claim that they are after the ``worst of the worst'' or that they are
only going after people who are criminals, that is just not true.
Last month, Federal agents detained this youngster, 5-year-old Liam
Conejo Ramos, and his father from their driveway in Minneapolis, MN.
Is this a criminal? Is this a public safety threat to the United
States? How could you make that argument with a straight face or accept
it from a President with the kind of motivation that he has
demonstrated in his hostility to immigrants?
Liam had just gotten home from preschool with a Spider-Man backpack
and his bunny stocking cap. He and his father were held in a facility
in Texas, more than 1,000 miles away from their home, for over a week
until a Federal judge ordered that they be released.
Dangerous criminal. Keeping our streets safe.
Over a 2-month period last year, according to the right-leaning Cato
Institute, nearly three-quarters of people rounded up by ICE had no
criminal conviction--none whatsoever. Of those who did have a criminal
conviction, the biggest category was--drum roll--traffic violations.
In February 2025, 3,165 immigrants with no criminal charges or
convictions were detained by ICE--3,000 in February 2025. Last month,
January 2026, the number of people detained by ICE with no criminal
conviction and no criminal charges had grown to 25,193. From September
21, 2025, until last month, January 7, single-day ICE detentions
increased to 11,296 a day. But, again, this stat showed that well over
two-thirds had no criminal convictions and no criminal charges.
How about U.S. citizens? As of October 2025, more than 170 U.S.
citizens were detained by immigration agents. That is what we know of.
Two dozen were held for more than a day without being able to call
their loved ones or a lawyer. Nearly 20 of those U.S. citizens detained
were children, and 2 of them had cancer. More than 50 American citizens
were detained by ICE on suspicion of being undocumented. And, guess
what? All 50 were Latino, people whose skin color or ethnic background
have been demonstrated by the President to be those he disapproves.
Late last month ICE agents went to a U.S. citizen's house with no
warrant, broke his door down, dragged him from his home at gunpoint in
his underwear in below-freezing temperatures in front of his 4-year-old
grandson. Neighbors took it all on video. The ICE agents drove him to
the middle of nowhere and made him stand in the cold while they
photographed him undressed. Then they finally drove him back to
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his home and dropped him off there with his broken down front door.
This is not about law enforcement. This is not about public safety.
It is a campaign against people because of the color of their skin or
where they are from.
If you support President Trump's policies, you have to ask yourself:
Wait a minute. It is not really about law enforcement. It is about 5-
year-old kids. It is about U.S. citizens. It is about people who have
no criminal background. And you ought to ask yourself whether that is,
in fact, what you support.
Immigrants are crucial and beneficial to the economy in Virginia and
throughout America. Just some statistics: Nationwide, our immigrant
families generated more than $236 billion in income in 2022 and paid
nearly $66 billion in local, State, and Federal taxes.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that immigration flows to
the United States that are projected currently will likely increase
American gross domestic product by nearly $9 trillion between now and
2034, if we don't screw it up.
As of June 2025, 15.4 percent of U.S. residents are immigrants,
including naturalized U.S. citizens. So everyone in this room has, in
their State, hard-working immigrant families who do not appreciate
being demonized by the President and his policies.
Immigrants make up 13.2 percent of Virginia's population. That is
more than one in eight. When I was born, it was 1 in 100. I was born in
1958. So 1 of 100 Virginians in 1958 had been born in another country.
Today it is one of eight. I guess that must mean, if you follow the
President's logic, that this has been a horrible thing for Virginia. To
the contrary, Virginia, by my last checking, was one of only two States
in the United States that, in my lifetime, has gone from bottom quarter
per capita income to top quarter per capita income. There is nothing
about life in Virginia today that is not dramatically better than in
1958.
And the growth of our immigrant populations with their strength and
their innovation and their culture has been a huge part of the reason
that Virginia has gone from back of the pack economically to front of
the pack economically.
Virginia has started to see some population decline in recent years,
except for immigration. Immigration has actually enabled our State to
continue to grow. Growth is helpful to the economy. Immigrants
contribute $104 billion annually to the Virginia economy. Get this: 29
percent--nearly one-third--of our Main Street business owners in
Virginia are immigrants; our Main Street business owners, nearly 30
percent. Sixteen percent of our workforce is immigrant.
Let me tell you about a couple of industries, specifically, and give
you some Virginia statistics: 34 percent of our chefs are immigrants;
44 percent of our computer engineers are immigrants; 28 percent of our
childcare workers are immigrants; 52 percent of our painters are
immigrants; 46 percent of our agriculture workers--ag and forestry is
still the No. 1 industry in Virginia as it is in most States in the
country. Forty-six percent of our ag workers are immigrants; 43 percent
of our construction workers are immigrants. Health aides--more than 20
percent of our health professionals are immigrants. I notice this
particularly when I visit rural Virginia; that if it weren't for
immigrant-trained doctors and workers and allied health professionals,
many of the rural parts of our State would not have health providers at
all.
Demeaning and attacking, terrorizing and frightening, disrespecting
immigrants is not only the wrong thing to do, it hurts our country and
it hurts our economy.
What would we do without 46 percent of our agriculture workers? What
would we do without 43 percent of our construction workers or 23
percent of our health aides? Don't they deserve some positive words?
Some thanks, like: Thanks for choosing us. You could have chosen
someone else. Instead, you chose to come here and enrich our
communities.
And the skills I gave you are everything from sort of more manual
skills to high-end computer engineering and health professions. I could
have done this with virtually any profession in Virginia, and I would
have made the same case. We would not be the Commonwealth that we are,
the success that we are, without the growth of our immigrant
populations.
I want to conclude by just saying, in being here for 13 years, I just
have heard too few words on this floor that talk about the
contributions that immigrants have made to this country during our
entire history. Immigration is the transfusion into the bloodstream of
the American economy and the American politic that keeps our Nation
young at 250--new skills, new ideas, new connections to places around
the world.
Are there challenges? Yes. Do we need order? Of course, we do. Should
we reform? Yes. But it should be within the overall framework of
immigrants like this little guy are not a problem. Our immigrant
communities are part of what makes our Nation great and successful. I
am tired, after more than 13 years, of hearing immigrants just dragged
down, called ``illegals''? Why don't we call people convicted of fraud
``illegals''? Why don't we call people convicted of sexual harassment
``illegals''?
There is only one kind of person that some label an ``illegal'' in
the United States and that is if they have violated the laws to enter
the country. What about all the other illegalities people in this
country commit?
But there is only one kind of person we demonize with the label, and
I am tired of it. I am tired of people getting kicked around because of
the countries they came from and color of their skin.
I speak from personal experience having worked as a missionary in
Central America. And I know the kinds of people who come here, and I
know why they come here. They come for the same reason my great-
grandparents came here from Ireland in the late 1840s--because there
weren't opportunities for them. The laws may be a little different
today than then, but the motivations are no different.
Virtually, everybody in this Chamber has an immigration story where,
thank God, their family decided that they could make a better life for
themselves in the United States. And just as we don't demonize each
other because we have immigrant roots, we shouldn't be demonizing
people like this young 5-year-old's family and terrorizing them as we
are.
Any policy that begins with the assumption that immigrations are a
problem or a threat or a public safety concern, instead of beginning
with the reality that our immigrant communities have been part of the
great success of this Nation--any policy that starts with the wrong
assumption is bankrupt morally, bankrupt legally, bankrupt
economically, and it will hurt our Nation. It is already hurting our
Nation and will continue to hurt it even further.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.