[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 79 (Monday, May 11, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2192-S2193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BUDGET RECONCILIATION

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, so now we are going to consider a 
reconciliation bill to spend tens of billions of dollars for ICE and 
CBP. We all know the story of ICE. We saw it on the streets of Chicago, 
Minneapolis, and many other places.
  Do you know what is interesting? As I was walking through the airport 
and all of these policemen were coming in for Police Week this week in 
Washington--wearing their formal uniforms, smart looking as they were--
I didn't see a single one of them with a mask on their face. Yet ICE 
continues to argue it is the only police force in America that should 
be masked and the American people shouldn't be able to identify who 
these ICE agents are. I think that is reprehensible. We are trying to 
change it, and the Republicans are resisting it. I don't know why.
  Let me say also that there is no reference in this budget 
reconciliation package to language that would rein in lawless 
immigration agents who are terrorizing communities like Chicago and 
Minneapolis while carrying out the President's mass deportation 
campaign.
  Just this last week, we had a press conference in Chicago to talk 
about those who are here in the United States under DACA. DACA is a 
product of the DREAM Act, which I introduced 22 years ago--a provision 
in the law which we need to enact which says that if you are here in 
the United States, brought into the country as a child, that you ought 
to have an opportunity to earn your way to citizenship.
  These young men and women grew up in America, pledged allegiance to 
that flag in their classroom every single day, and believed they were 
part of America's future, only to learn when they had become teenagers 
that their parents brought them in and didn't file the appropriate 
papers, so now they are subject to deportation.
  The DREAM Act addressed that issue, and I called on President Obama 
and asked him to use his Executive powers to give these Dreamers a 
chance. He created a program called DACA.
  Under the DACA Program, if you were one of the Dreamers, every 2 
years, you are to be registering with the government and paying a $600 
fee and going through a criminal background check so that you can 
continue to work in the United States and not be deported.
  So what happened 2 weeks ago? The bureau of immigration came out with 
a ruling that DACA no longer protected these individuals. How many were 
affected? Originally, 800,000-plus; today, somewhere in the range of 
500,000. They run the very real risk now that if they try to sign up 
again for DACA, as they are entitled to under President Obama's 
Executive order, they could be arrested and deported. For more and more 
of them, that is happening as the weeks go by, and we held a press 
conference in Chicago to talk about that.
  That is ICE at work. That is CBP at work. And unfortunately, these 
young people, who have no criminal background--they have gone through 
criminal background checks and are showing up, as required, to pay 
their fee every 2 years so they can work legally in the United States--
are subject to deportation.
  There is also a provision in this bill--hard to believe--of $1 
billion for President Trump's White House ballroom--a billion-dollar 
ballroom--the same ballroom that he promised the American people 
wouldn't cost them a penny. He was going to go to his buddies, as he 
always does, and they were going to come up with the money, and the 
American people wouldn't have to pay anything. Guess what. The budget 
reconciliation bill presented by Republicans in the Senate this week 
requires $1 billion for this ``Great Gatsby'' ballroom that the 
President wants to see. I think that is a horrendous waste of time and 
money, and it did not go through the appropriate channels.
  The President just plowed down the East Wing of the White House, and 
it sits there as a gaping hole waiting to be filled. It was going to be 
his billionaire buddies to fill it; now, it is the American taxpayers--
$1 billion. I distinctly recall the President saying that the taxpayers 
would not have to pay for this.
  Add it to that endless list of broken promises--the President ending 
the Ukrainian war on his first day in office and a long list of 
contradictions when it comes to the war with Iran. Depending on the day 
of the week, we are either proceeding with a war or ending a war, 
wiping them off the face of the Earth or sitting down and negotiating. 
It is impossible to follow what his strategy might be, and that is just 
more of the same when it comes to this President.
  Mr. President, when it comes to the DACA children, who are now 
adults, we have to accept the obvious. We made a promise to them--many 
of us did--which can't be kept under this President.
  I remember that day when DACA became official and people could sign 
up for it. Congressman Luis Gutierrez and I held a meeting at Navy Pier 
in Chicago, expecting perhaps 800 people to show up. The number was way 
in excess of 10,000. Some of them waited all night to bring their 
children in to sign up for this.
  There was an initial hesitation by many. They argued: If we identify 
ourselves to the government under Obama, who is to say that government 
won't turn on us, arrest us, and deport us?
  We gave them our word that we would stand by the promise that we 
would not use this information they were filing with the government 
against them in the future. That promise was kept through President 
Obama, through President Biden, but it hasn't been kept by this 
administration. Those who are protected by DACA today run the risk--
when they go to the Federal Government to sign up and renew their DACA 
protection--of being detained and deported. We did not keep our promise 
to these young people, and I feel very badly about that.

[[Page S2193]]

  Let me also say that we are going to have a hearing this week, a 
spotlight hearing by Democrats, to have these DACA recipients come 
before us and explain what has happened to their lives. It is 
heartbreaking. They deserve a chance to be part of America's future. 
They are doctors, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs, policemen, military. 
They are part of America and its future. To blame them as being the 
worst of the worst and they should be deported is grossly unfair.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schmitt). The Senator from Ohio.

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