{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-slams-trump-administration-for-continuing-mass-deportation-campaign-in-spotlight-forum-on-destruction-of-temporary-protected-status-for-immigrants", "Durbin Slams Trump Administration For Continuing Mass Deportation Campaign In Spotlight Forum On Destruction Of Temporary Protected Status For Immigrants", "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: \u201cYes, we\u2019ve got to have sensible regulation of immigration, but this fear factor is unacceptable. It\u2019s un-American.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 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\u2019s 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 focused on the devastating impacts of TPS terminations on long-time immigrants, their families, and their communities.\n\nBefore beginning his questioning, Durbin spoke about how the Trump Administration has made a coordinated effort to spread fear and anxiety through immigrant communities.\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s going on is this Administration\u2019s effort to make everyone afraid\u2014afraid 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,\u201d Durbin said. \u201cIt\u2019s so quiet. People are not on the streets. They\u2019re just afraid. And ICE is roaming through the neighborhoods scaring people to death. It\u2019s a design strategy. This is Stephen Miller at work. He wants immigrants to be afraid to stay in America. He\u2019ll take TPS and send them away.\u201d\n\nDurbin 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 \u201cmega master\u201d hearings in which dozens of immigrants are brought into a single judge\u2019s courtroom for a massive preliminary procedural hearing.\n\n\u201cI 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\u2019t have a clue what the hell was going on in that courtroom. They ran a very real risk of being deported in the process,\u201d Durbin said.\n\nSpeaking 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.\n\n\u201cIf these folks are afraid, we\u2019ve 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,\u201d Durbin said to Ms. Verrett.\n\n\u201cPastor, we\u2019ve 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,\u201d Durbin said to Pastor Ruby.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time for us to rise up and for people to see us doing that, not to step back and say \u2018well immigration was an issue in the last campaign.\u2019 Yes, we\u2019ve got to have sensible regulation of immigration, but this fear factor is unacceptable. It\u2019s un-American,\u201d Durbin said.\n\nDurbin asked Ms. Verrett to elaborate on SEIU\u2019s 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.\n\nDurbin also asked Pastor Ruby to share his perspective about how faith communities can support sensible immigration policies.\n\nPastor 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\u2019s shameful mass deportation campaign.\n\nVideo of Durbin\u2019s questions are available here.\n\nAudio of Durbin\u2019s questions are 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-slams-trump-administration-for-continuing-mass-deportation-campaign-in-spotlight-forum-on-destruction-of-temporary-protected-status-for-immigrants"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5045912005007267, "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"}