[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 377-379]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDING

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, over the weekend, as I mentioned, as 
millions of people were marching on the streets of France and around 
the world to demonstrate the world's unity in the aftermath of the 
horrible terrorist attack in France, the President announced that he 
will convene a summit at the White House next month to discuss what can 
be done further to stop the threat of violent extremism.
  This is a time when we should all be focusing on what we can do to 
stop the threat of terrorism in our country as well as the rest of the 
world, so it is truly surprising, to say the least, that the House of 
Representatives will vote on a bill this week that threatens to shut 
down the Department of Homeland Security. That is our government agency 
that is responsible for protecting Americans from terrorism. What in 
the world would lead the House of Representatives to threaten to shut 
down this agency? We should not even be debating the Department of 
Homeland Security at this moment in history.
  Every other government agency--every single one of them--has already 
been funded through the end of this fiscal year, September 30, and that 
is normal when we fund the government. But the Republicans in the House 
and Senate insisted weeks ago that the Department of Homeland Security 
only be funded through the end of February. Why did they demand that 
this critical agency that is responsible for keeping us safe across 
America not be funded in the normal manner? Why did they put America at 
risk with this type of funding? Well, because they wanted an 
opportunity early in the year--early in the legislative session--to 
take a stand against President Obama's immigration policies. They feel 
so strongly about this, they are willing to put the Department of 
Homeland Security's budget at risk.
  So this week the House Republicans are preparing to pass legislation 
that would defund President Obama's immigration policies, including the 
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, known as DACA. What is 
that program? It puts on hold the deportations of immigrant students 
and children who grew up in this country and allows these young people 
to live and work legally in America on a temporary basis. That is what 
DACA is. These young people are well known to me and to most. They are 
known as DREAMers.
  It was 13 years ago that I introduced the DREAM Act. For 13 years I 
have been trying to pass a bill into law which says that the sins of 
the parents should not be visited on the children.
  These young people who are affected by DACA and the DREAM Act--many 
of them were brought to the United States as infants and toddlers. They 
had no voice in this family decision to come here. They did not know, 
could not know, that one of their parents was undocumented. They grew 
up in America. They went to school in America. They participated in 
America. They went to the neighborhood churches and mosques and 
temples. They were the ones who were standing in their classroom every 
single day of their lives stopping for a solemn moment to pledge 
allegiance to the American flag--the only flag they have ever known. 
But the fact is, they were brought here as babies and children, and 
they were undocumented. They grew up in America. They identified this 
country as home. They envisioned this dream of living here. Yet they 
did not have a legal status.
  The DREAM Act said we would give these young people a chance. If they 
had a clean criminal record, if they would finish high school, if they 
would go on to college or even enlist in our military, we would allow 
them to move to legal status--give these DREAMers a chance.
  Time and again, we called this legislation. Sadly, it never passed 
the House and the Senate at the same time. Then President Obama decided 
2 years ago that he would use his Executive authority to protect these 
young people from being deported. We estimate there are about 2 million 
of them across the United States. He said to them: If you will come 
forward, pay your fee, go through a background check--if you are 
prepared to do that and register with the government, we will spare you 
from deportation. That is what the DACA program is. Mr. President, 
600,000 did. Mr. President, 600,000 came up with the money.
  I can recall in the city of Chicago when we had the sign up--the very 
first sign up for this DACA Executive order. It was amazing. We did not 
know if 200 people would show up or 400 or even

[[Page 378]]

1,000. Well, the night before--at midnight, the night before we started 
signing them up--the first day they could sign up for DACA, the 
families started gathering, standing outside at Navy Pier in downtown 
Chicago. They stood there all night waiting for a chance to sign up for 
this program. Many of them were parents accompanying their children. 
The parents themselves were not going to get any direct benefit from 
this, but they wanted their kids to be spared the fear of deportation. 
They wanted to give their kids a chance. In the end, thousands came 
through the door--so many we could not even handle the volume with our 
volunteer attorneys and many others who were helping.
  But it was a clear indication that these families wanted their 
children to have a chance--a chance to earn their way into legal status 
in America. That is the DACA----
  (Disturbance in the Visitors' Galleries.)
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator will suspend until the Sergeant at 
Arms has restored order in the galleries.
  The assistant Democratic leader.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, the young people I have described are 
known as DREAMers. They were brought to the United States as children. 
They grew up in this country, and they have overcome great obstacles to 
continue to live here. They are the future doctors, engineers, 
teachers, and soldiers who will make America stronger.
  Now, in the last 2 years, as I mentioned, more than 600,000 DREAMers 
have received DACA--this Executive order by President Obama which 
allows them to stay as long as they are registered, pay their fee, and 
not be deported.
  What has happened to these young people now that they have their 
chance, they have gone to school? I met 10 of them who are now at 
Loyola's school of medicine. They are extraordinary students. They were 
the best of the best. They did not have a chance because they did not 
have that document that gave them an opportunity to enroll. Well, they 
are going to school now, and they have pledged to continue to serve 
this country as doctors, given that chance, in some of the poorest 
communities in my State and our Nation.
  In past speeches I have given on this floor--over 50 of them--I have 
highlighted the contributions that many DACA recipients already make to 
our country. They are working as engineers, small business owners, and 
public school teachers. The Center for American Progress and the 
Partnership for a New American Economy has found that giving legal 
status to DREAMers will add $329 billion to our economy and create 1.4 
million new jobs by 2030.
  How can this be possible that 600,000 have that kind of impact? These 
are not ordinary young people or ordinary young graduates. These are 
extraordinary young people who want to be part of this Nation of 
immigrants.
  But the Republicans in the House of Representatives want to end DACA. 
They want to put an end to this program. They argue it was 
unconstitutional for the President to say he would suspend deportation 
for these young people. They want these young people to be deported, 
removed from this country, sent back to countries where many of them 
can never recall living, going to countries where they literally cannot 
speak the language. That is the House Republican position. They feel so 
strongly about deporting these young people, they are willing to hold 
the Homeland Security funding bill hostage to force the Democrats to 
agree.
  Well, let me be clear. Democrats will not be swayed by this kind of 
blackmail. We will insist the Department of Homeland Security be funded 
and that the President have the authority that every President has had 
to establish his own immigration policies within the limits of 
Executive authority.
  It is the height of unfairness. First congressional Republicans 
obstructed immigration reform legislation. Now they want to obstruct 
the very agency responsible for homeland security.
  It was more than a year and a half ago--the date was June 27, 2013--
on the floor of this Senate, we passed comprehensive immigration reform 
with a strong bipartisan vote of 68 to 32. This bill--which I joined 
seven other colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, working on it--
strengthened our border to a level even greater than today, cracked 
down on illegal immigration, protected American workers in a fair and 
humane manner, and addressed the challenges facing 11 million 
undocumented workers currently living in our country.
  But for the last year and a half, the House of Representatives, led 
by Speaker Boehner, has refused to allow a vote on the Senate's 
immigration reform bill. Not once would they allow this bill to come to 
the floor of the House for a vote. If Speaker Boehner had brought the 
bill to the floor, it would have passed with a strong bipartisan vote. 
He knew it and he was determined not to ever let that happen. It was 
only after the Speaker had demonstrated clearly to the President, to 
the Senate, and to the American people that he would not even 
participate in the debate on immigration reform that President Obama 
issued his second order.
  I have been involved in a lot of efforts to pass bipartisan 
immigration reform legislation. It is so frustrating for us to have 
finally passed a bill in the Senate--Democrats and Republicans; 
supported by the AFL-CIO, representing organized labor; supported by 
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, representing business; supported by 
virtually every major faith in this country--and then to see it ignored 
and stopped in the House of Representatives.
  So President Obama, after the election, announced that, having given 
the Republicans in the House a chance to legislate, he would use his 
powers to try to fix our broken immigration system, to put on temporary 
hold the deportations of individuals who are the parents of U.S. 
citizens or legal permanent residents, who have lived in our country 
for years, and who pose no threat to America's safety.
  This is clearly not amnesty, because at the end of the day, what the 
President has given is only a temporary reprieve to these people to 
stay and work in America--so long as they register and pay their fee, 
so long as they submit themselves regularly to criminal background 
checks, and so long as they pay their fair share of taxes. This 
deferred action status does not give them permanent status or 
citizenship. It is not amnesty by any definition.
  The President's Executive action will make America safer, bringing 
millions of immigrants out of the shadows to register with the 
government and to go through background checks. It will also help our 
economy and American workers. You see, these undocumented workers, 
working off the books, are many times paid much less than minimum wage, 
if they are paid at all, and they are competing with American workers. 
Once they are brought out of the shadows under the President's recent 
Executive order, they will need to be paid the ongoing wages, the 
minimum wage of America. By bringing these workers into the legal 
workforce, it will eliminate the unfair competition of the underground 
economy. And all of these workers will be paying their taxes, which 
will increase tax revenues by billions of dollars each year.
  The President's Executive action is also smart and realistic when it 
comes to enforcing our immigration laws. It is not humanly possible to 
deport all of the undocumented immigrants in this country. So every 
administration has had to set priorities on those who will be deported 
and those who will not. The government should not waste its limited 
resources to deport immigrants who have lived and worked here for 
years, who have children who are citizens or lawful permanent 
residents, and who do not pose any threat to America's future. Instead, 
the administration has made it a top priority to deport those who have 
committed serious crimes or are a threat to safety.
  Now, Executive action on deportation is clearly lawful. Every single 
President--Democrat and Republican--

[[Page 379]]

every one of them since President Dwight David Eisenhower has used his 
Executive authority to improve our immigration system. This argument 
that it is somehow unconstitutional just does not bear basic scrutiny. 
The Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that the Federal Government 
has broad authority to decide whom to deport. President Obama is acting 
well within his legal authority when he establishes policies about whom 
will be deported by this administration.
  The American people have elected us to solve problems. Because the 
House Republican leadership has failed to reform our immigration 
system, the President had no choice but to use his authority under the 
law to improve our economy and security and keep families together and 
at least do a small part toward solving America's broken immigration 
system problems.
  However you feel about the President's immigration policies, it is 
hypocritical and counterproductive--it is just wrong--to take out your 
frustration by putting at risk critical homeland security funding.
  I hope the House Republicans will somehow or another overcome this 
fit of pique that has led us to this moment and realize their first 
obligation is to this great Nation.

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