Terminating Restrictive Enforcement of Youth Settlements Law

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last year, the city of Chicago, which I am honored to represent, lived under President Trump's mass deportation operation, which was dubbed by the administration as ``Operation Midway Blitz.''

While instances of ICE agents tear-gassing neighborhoods, firing rubber bullets at protesters, and using violent force to detain individuals have slowed since that monthslong campaign, arbitrary immigration enforcement continues to grip the city. There is fear in the neighborhoods as to what is next with ICE.

I would like to share one story with you. Two months ago, a high school student named Ricardo Hernandez-Navarrete and his mother were arrested in Chicago by ICE while they were at a routine check-in for their family's pending asylum case.

Do you remember what President Trump told us about ICE, what he promised us with ICE? They were going after the rapists, the murderers, the terrorists, the criminally insane, the child predators, and those who would kill you and should never have crossed our border--the ``worst of the worst'' in the words of Donald Trump.

Well, let me tell you about this mother and son. They have no criminal record whatsoever--none. Ricardo is a student at Mather High School in West Ridge, IL, who also plays soccer with the iProSkills Academy. He has committed to play for Truman College in the fall after his graduation. He describes it as the answer to his prayer.

The good news is that yesterday, a Federal judge ruled that Ricardo's mother must be released from ICE custody. Unfortunately, Ricardo, who is only 18 years old, remains in detention.

Does Ricardo sound like one of the worst of the worst that the President promised would be his target--the murderer? the rapist? the terrorist? Not to me.

After being detained, the two were taken to Kentucky from Chicago, put in jail for detention, and separated by the Trump administration. They have not seen each other for 2 months. Ricardo said being in detention ``plays tricks on your mind'' and that the bathrooms are ``filthy'' with practically no privacy.

He continued, saying:

I miss my mother, [and] I miss playing soccer.

Ricardo and his mother followed the rules. His mother came to the United States in 2022 when Ricardo was 15. She filed for asylum, and that petition remains pending according to court documents. Both have been model neighbors ever since they arrived.

I will also note that a case like Ricardo's is one of the many reasons Senate Democrats continue to fight to rein in lawless, rogue ICE agents, including by making sure Federal agents follow the same standards of law, in compliance with the Constitution, as State police departments already do. That is not too much to ask. Unfortunately, many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are continuing to muscle through a partisan spending bill which would give to the ICE agents a blank check.

The memory of what happened with the ICE agents in Chicago and certainly what happened in Minneapolis is not gone. We still remember that when wearing their masks, they were harassing people and killing innocent American citizens. It happened twice in quick succession.

Giving ICE a blank check is a mistake--to the tune of tens of billions of dollars--to continue this campaign of terror unchecked. I am going to vote no on that bill.

I urge ICE to release Ricardo and reunite him with his mother as soon as possible.

(The remarks of Mr. DURBIN pertaining to the introduction of S. 4608 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
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