{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-condemns-president-trumps-racist-comments-towards-immigrants-in-senate-judiciary-committee-executive-meeting", "Durbin Condemns President Trump\u2019s Racist Comments Towards Immigrants In Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Meeting", "2025-12-11", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Richard J. Durbin", "D000563", "www.durbin.senate.gov", "durbin", "https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "During his opening remarks, Durbin again called on DHS Secretary Noem to testify in front of the Committee, urged Chairman Grassley to consider a subpoena if she refuses to appear\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement during today\u2019s Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting condemning the Trump Administration\u2019s failing immigration enforcement tactics and the diversion of necessary resources away from drug trafficking, gun violence, and other threats that put our nation\u2019s security at risk\u2014all while pardoning drug kingpins, including former Honduras President, Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez. Durbin also again called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to testify in front of the Committee.\n\nDurbin also spoke about President Donald Trump finally admitting that he used the slur \u201cshithole countries\u201d to denigrate Haiti and African nations during a 2018 meeting in the Oval Office that Durbin attended. Trump admitted to this comment during his rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.\n\nKey Quotes\n\n\u201cConsider President Trump\u2019s extrajudicial killings of alleged drug traffickers\u2026 Since September, the Administration has carried out at least 22 attacks, killing at least 87 people. The President and Secretary Hegseth allege they are killing \u2018narco-terrorists\u2019\u2014but the Administration refused to provide any evidence of an imminent threat justifying lethal force. If these are actually drug traffickers, law enforcement should stop the boats, confiscate and destroy the drugs, and prosecute the traffickers. The Justice Department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel has tried to provide legal cover for these summary executions in a deeply flawed legal opinion, which it refuses to make public to the American people.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt the same time, President Trump has pardoned Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez, the former President of Honduras who was convicted of orchestrating a massive conspiracy to flood our country with illegal narcotics\u2026 This follows the President\u2019s pardon of another drug kingpin, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. He created the largest online black market for illegal drugs in our nation\u2019s history.\u201d\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, President Trump is targeting communities that didn\u2019t vote for him, like Chicago. Instead of arresting dangerous murderers, rapists, and terrorists, as promised, the Trump Administration is rounding up tens of thousands of immigrants with no criminal history. In Illinois, a mere two and a half percent of immigrants arrested by ICE between September 8 and October 15 had been convicted of a violent crime. Sixty-six percent of the people detained and deported had no criminal history whatsoever.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe President is making no secret about his true motivation. I will never forget my 2018 meeting in the Oval Office when the President rejected a bipartisan immigration deal because he didn\u2019t want any more immigrants from \u2018s***hole countries.\u2019 There were some questions [about whether] he actually said that for years. He not only said it, he bragged about it at a rally in Pennsylvania\u2026 Two Republican Senators claimed I was lying when I confirmed [the comments]. Now, President Trump isn\u2019t hiding his true feelings\u2026 This is racism, plain and simple.\u201d\n\n\u201cI want to thank Chairman Grassley for committing to bring Secretary Noem before the Committee before the end of the year. Unfortunately, Secretary Noem has stiff-armed the Committee, refusing to commit to a hearing date. Mr. Chairman, you have the power to issue a subpoena. It will be bipartisan. It is time for Secretary Noem to end her galivanting across this country and come before this Committee and be held accountable by the American people.\u201d\n\nVideo of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here.\n\nAudio of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here.\n\nFootage of Durbin\u2019s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.\n\nDurbin then spoke against the nomination of Darin Smith, nominated to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming. Mr. Smith has no criminal or federal court experience; nor has he ever tried a case to verdict, judgment, or final decision. Mr. Smith could not list one significant litigated matter on his Questionnaire submitted to the Committee.\n\n\u201cSeemingly, Mr. Smith\u2019s only qualification is his loyalty to right-wing MAGA orthodoxy. He was on the Capitol grounds on January 6. As my colleagues remember, a violent mob assaulted police officers, destroyed government property, and attempted to thwart our democratic process. Mr. Smith baselessly claimed that the hundreds of Capitol Police officers who risked their lives that day were guilty of \u2018massive incompetence.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWithout evidence, he claimed that rioters who breached the Capitol were victims of entrapment. Mr. Smith has stood by his radical and dangerous claim that Vice President Pence should not have certified the results of the 2020 election because there were \u2018imperfections\u2019 in the process.\u2019 Mr. Smith also falsely claimed that the FBI agents who interviewed him regarding his presence at the Capitol were sent by former Representative Liz Cheney and \u2018her goons\u2019 after he demanded that she be censured by the Wyoming Republican Party.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am also troubled by Mr. Smith\u2019s stunning lack of judgment. He baselessly accused Vice President Harris of being a murderer and refused to retract this slanderous comment. He attacked Republican Senators for finding credible the sexual assault allegations made by multiple women against Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and claimed\u2014again without evidence\u2014that the allegations were \u2018probably false.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cI urge my colleagues that there must be some standard of qualification. To give this kind of power to an individual that has no background, none whatsoever when it comes to criminal or federal court experience, there\u2019s no excuse\u2014please vote no.\u201d\n\nVideo of Durbin\u2019s remarks on the nomination of Mr. Smith is available here.\n\nAudio of Durbin\u2019s remarks on the nomination of Mr. Smith is available here.\n\nFootage of Durbin\u2019s remarks on the nomination of Mr. Smith is available here for TV Stations.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-condemns-president-trumps-racist-comments-towards-immigrants-in-senate-judiciary-committee-executive-meeting"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1100159026682377, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}