Homeland Security Funding

Floor Speech

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 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----

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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--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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