CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement regarding the Biden-Harris Administration announcing new expanded legal migration options and border enforcement actions:
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“Congressional Republicans who have repeatedly obstructed bipartisan immigration reform leave President Biden with no choice but to use the authorities he has under current law to establish a more orderly process at our southern border. I strongly support the President’s actions to clearly spell out legal pathways for migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean. We have seen over the past decade that new border enforcement cannot be effective unless migrants are also given meaningful legal pathways to come to the United States. We have a legal and moral obligation to ensure that any migrant seeking protection at our border is given a fair chance to make their claim.
“While unemployed Americans should always be our first priority, there is no question that there’s a need for immigrants to help fill jobs that Americans won’t take. I urge my Republican colleagues to stop their political infighting and join Democrats in working to fix our broken immigration system.”
In 2013, Durbin was part of the “Gang of Eight” – four Democrats and four Republicans – that drafted a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The 2013 bill passed the Senate on a strong bipartisan vote of 68-32, but the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives refused to consider it.
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