Durbin Slams Trump Administration For Continuing Mass Deportation Campaign In Spotlight Forum On Destruction Of Temporary Protected Status For Immigrants

September 29, 2026 Durbin Slams Trump Administration For Continuing Mass Deportation Campaign In Spotlight Forum On Destruction Of Temporary Protected Status For Immigrants Durbin: “Yes, we’ve got to have sensible regulation of immigration, but this fear factor is unacceptable. It’s un-American.” WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses at his spotlight forum, hosted in conjunction with U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Alex Padilla (D-CA). Today’s forum, entitled “The Economic and Community Impacts of the Trump Administration’s Haphazard TPS [Temporary Protection Status] Terminations and the Need for a New Path Forward,” focused on the devastating impacts of TPS terminations on long-time immigrants, their families, and their communities. Before beginning his questioning, Durbin spoke about how the Trump Administration has made a coordinated effort to spread fear and anxiety through immigrant communities. “What’s going on is this Administration’s effort to make everyone afraid—afraid to go out to church, afraid to go to the local restaurant, afraid to go to the store, afraid to take your kids to school. And sadly, I want to tell you something: their tactic is working in some communities,” Durbin said. “It’s so quiet. People are not on the streets. They’re just afraid. And ICE is roaming through the neighborhoods scaring people to death. It’s a design strategy. This is Stephen Miller at work. He wants immigrants to be afraid to stay in America. He’ll take TPS and send them away.” Durbin then recalled visiting an immigration court in Chicago, where he witnessed immigrant children face a daunting legal proceeding without legal support. Recently, at the direction of the Trump Administration, immigration courts have been conducting “mega master” hearings in which dozens of immigrants are brought into a single judge’s courtroom for a massive preliminary procedural hearing. “I was in a meeting just a few weeks ago with young children, unaccompanied children, who were in this country. They are abandoned, abused, neglected, and they kind of stay with foster care in a good setting. The Administration announced they were cutting off all legal representation for children. So I went to one of the immigration courts. They were dealing with hundreds of kids in one day. Those kids didn’t have a clue what the hell was going on in that courtroom. They ran a very real risk of being deported in the process,” Durbin said. Speaking to April Verrett, President of SEIU, and Pastor Carl Ruby of Central Christian Church in Springfield, Ohio, Durbin called for labor and faith leaders to continue supporting immigrant communities. “If these folks are afraid, we’ve got to give them courage to know they have people supporting them. I believe organized labor can do that, and your union [SEIU] will be one of the leaders in this effort,” Durbin said to Ms. Verrett. “Pastor, we’ve got to reach out to not just Christian churches, but all churches, and synagogues, and temples, and get them feeling the same way you feel about immigrants,” Durbin said to Pastor Ruby. “It’s time for us to rise up and for people to see us doing that, not to step back and say ‘well immigration was an issue in the last campaign.’ Yes, we’ve got to have sensible regulation of immigration, but this fear factor is unacceptable. It’s un-American,” Durbin said. Durbin asked Ms. Verrett to elaborate on SEIU’s support for immigrants. She explained that SEIU sees the value of all their members, and as a result, the union will continue to stand up for their immigrant members. Durbin also asked Pastor Ruby to share his perspective about how faith communities can support sensible immigration policies. Pastor Ruby explained that a collection of churches have come together to offer sanctuary for immigrants in Ohio, and these church leaders see it as their duty to serve immigrant communities, especially those who have been threatened by the Trump Administration’s shameful mass deportation campaign. Video of Durbin’s questions are available here . Audio of Durbin’s questions are available here . -30- Print Email Share Tweet