Senator Dick Durbin represents Illinois in the U.S. Senate, where he is the Senate Minority Whip.
Masked, armed and wearing bulletproof vests, federal immigration agents stormed into Rayito de Sol day care in Chicago on Wednesday at 7 a.m. Without presenting a warrant, the agents dragged teacher Diana Galeano out from the day care’s vestibule.
Despite her pleas of “I have papers,” urgently delivered in English and Spanish, the agents carted the teacher away as terrified children inside hid and parents outside filmed the arrest. The arrest of Galeano, who has a valid work permit, is just the latest in a string of reports about the chilling, cruel and chaotic actions by Department of Homeland Security officers in Illinois. Thriving on the fear he is cultivating across the country he is supposed to be leading, President Donald Trump has unleashed militarized law enforcement onto the streets of Chicago. There, according to eyewitnesses and local reports, federal officers have zip-tied children, attacked clergymen with tear gas, tackled reporters doing their jobs and temporarily disappeared people based on their ethnicity and regardless of their immigration status. On the campaign trail, Trump boasted he would be a “dictator” on day one. He has taken the unprecedented, unnecessary and unlawful step of turning the military on American cities to attack what he calls, the “enemy within.” Mr. President: Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles are not “the enemy.” Let’s call this what it is: political theater. Wanting to play a strongman on TV, the president manufactured a crisis. He claimed Chicago needed to be “saved” and tried to deploy 500 members of the National Guard to the city, in a dangerous escalation of tensions he himself created. That deployment is on hold, thanks to a federal judge’s order that the Trump administration is appealing to the Supreme Court. But in the meantime, under the president and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s direction, federal agents have conducted ruthless immigration raids across Chicago. They have forcefully arrested anyone — even the elderly, women and terrified children — that they suspect of being an immigrant. And outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois — where many detainees are being held — federal agents have met peaceful protestors, journalists and even local law enforcement with excessive force. I have always supported bipartisan, evidence-based ways to reduce violent crime. But excessive militarized ICE raids and misuse of the military for immigration enforcement and domestic policing will not make Chicago safer. The administration’s expansive use of the military across the country to support immigration enforcement activities is a dangerous distraction that hurts military readiness, pulls our Guardsmen and women away from home and wastes precious taxpayer dollars to the tune of up to $2 billion by the end of the year, per Pentagon estimates. Rather than earnestly addressing crime, the Trump administration has hindered crime control efforts by Illinois leaders and slashed funding for crime prevention programs. This was never about reducing crime. If it was, President Trump would have bolstered support for crime prevention programs, not cut them to the bone. Instead, the president has chosen to punish the states that did not vote for him. As a senator and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will use every tool at my disposal to push back against this president’s attack on our democracy. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and I recently traveled to Broadview to visit the ICE processing facility there. We were denied entry. This was the fourth time I asked to visit the facility in several weeks, and the Trump administration has denied me entry every time. What does DHS have to hide? Contrary to the Trump administration’s highly produced videos posted online, demonstrations at Broadview have been overwhelmingly peaceful. I’ve spoken with protestors, just a few of the hundreds of people who have rallied together outside of the ICE facility to push back against federal agents’ actions. And while the president says he’s deporting the “worst of the worst,” 70% of the people stopped by DHS and accused of violations have no criminal record. ProPublica reports that federal immigration agents detained at least 170 U.S. citizens in the first nine months of President Trump’s second term. And that number is only growing. In one incident, a U.S. citizen said immigration agents arrested him at his Chicago home, detaining him even after he presented his birth certificate. In another case, federal agents arrested a U.S. citizen service worker on her way home because, as she told the Chicago Tribune, the agents said she didn’t “look like” the name on her passport. My constituents live in constant fear of arbitrary arrests and detentions. President Trump threatens to unleash military forces to “protect federal buildings and agents.” But who will protect Illinoisans and all Americans from masked immigration agents and federal troops? A federal judge has limited ICE officers’ use of warrantless arrests. Another ordered federal agents not to indiscriminately deploy tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray on peaceful protestors, journalists and clergy. But there are serious questions as to whether immigration agents are obeying. I’ve called on Secretary Noem to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold her accountable for unlawful actions. And I’m working with other Illinois leaders, including Sen. Duckworth, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, to halt these clear abuses of power by the president. President Trump does not want to fight crime. He wants to spread fear. And he is destroying the values that define us as Americans. I will continue to hold this administration accountable for its unlawful actions and to stop the president’s unnecessary and dangerous deployment of our nation’s military to city streets.
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