{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-delivers-opening-statement-in-his-spotlight-forum-on-termination-of-tps-for-immigrants-in-need", "Durbin Delivers Opening Statement In His Spotlight Forum On Termination Of TPS For Immigrants In Need", "2026-09-29", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "IL", "Richard J. Durbin", "D000563", "www.durbin.senate.gov", "durbin", "https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Durbin: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be this way. Americans are better people than that. We are not going to turn away innocent, hardworking people who are doing their best.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today co-hosted a spotlight forum entitled \u201cThe Economic and Community Impacts of the Trump Administration\u2019s Haphazard TPS [Temporary Protection Status] Terminations and the Need for a New Path Forward\u201d in conjunction with U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Alex Padilla (D-CA). Today\u2019s forum examined the devastating impacts of TPS terminations on long-time immigrants, their families, and their communities.\n\nIn June, the Supreme Court ruled in Mullin v. Doe that the TPS statute did not allow for judicial review of TPS decisions, paving the way for the Trump Administration to terminate TPS for countries that remain extremely dangerous and unsafe for return. The second Trump Administration has terminated TPS for 13 countries that have come up for review, including Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Additionally, the Trump Administration has yet to announce whether it will extend TPS for El Salvadorians after the country\u2019s TPS designation expired in early September.\n\nIn his opening statement, Durbin spoke about visiting Haiti and the need to continue offering support and safe haven for those fleeing violence in the country.\n\nDurbin has also been a vocal supporter and original co-sponsor of Van Hollen\u2019s SECURE Act, legislation that would allow qualified TPS and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients a path to legal permanent residency.\n\nKey quotes:\n\n\u201cI was serving in the Senate at the time with a fellow named Mike DeWine. Mike is the Governor of Ohio, and he and his wife, Fran, had become my friends. Different political parties, but we both agreed Haiti was worth visiting.\u201d\n\n\u201cMike did more than visit. He and Fran went there regularly and adopted churches and groups to try to help them along. He still does it, so he invited me to join him. I took the trip with him and his wife, and we met some of his friends, particularly one Catholic priest named Father Tom Hagan.\u201d\n\n\u201cFather Tom Hagan runs an operation called Hands Together. They\u2019ve got everything. They\u2019ve got nursery schools. They\u2019ve got daycare. They\u2019ve got regular schools. They\u2019ve got things for senior citizens, and they\u2019re smack dab in the middle of Port-au-Prince. And it\u2019s a pretty tough territory, gang infested. They\u2019ve been through a lot, Father Hagan has with his charity.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt brings to mind this conversation we\u2019re having. TPS stands for Temporary Protected Status. When we look at it, I look at the word \u2018protected.\u2019 It\u2019s the first thing I think of\u2014protect the people who are the most vulnerable, refugees who leave countries and situations not of their own creation but are just trying to keep their children alive and keep themselves alive.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, when the Trump Administration looks at TPS, they look at a different word\u2014\u2018temporary.\u2019 It\u2019s all about time. How long have they been here? How long will they stay?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe know the answer to the question as to whether or not America needs immigrants. I\u2019m the son of an immigrant, proud of it. We still need immigrants to this day from countries like Haiti and all over the world to come to the United States. And if they come to this country and they\u2019re willing to work, and they don\u2019t cause any problems with crime, I believe they should be given a chance.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey\u2019re working hard and becoming part of their community and raising their families. Why would we turn them away? As Chris [Senator Van Hollen] said, Haiti is a place where we warn American citizens that it\u2019s a \u2018Level 4\u2019 dangerous place\u2014don\u2019t ever travel there if you can avoid it. Now we\u2019re saying to these people [Haitian immigrants], hundreds of them, go back into this dangerous situation.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be this way. Americans are better people than that. We are not going to turn away innocent, hardworking people who are doing their best. That\u2019s this immigrant story today, and it\u2019s been the story from the beginning.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe cannot let these people down, whether it\u2019s El Salvador or Haiti, whatever their origin may be. If they\u2019re working hard in the United States, I believe they should be protected.\u201d\n\nVideo of Durbin\u2019s remarks is available here.\n\nAudio of Durbin\u2019s remarks is available here.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-10-01T11:23:28Z", "2026-10-01T11:25:15Z"]], "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-delivers-opening-statement-in-his-spotlight-forum-on-termination-of-tps-for-immigrants-in-need"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.321568015962839, "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"}