At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on reducing crime and improving community safety, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the committee, criticized the Trump Administration’s deployment of military personnel to American cities. Durbin argued that such actions are political in nature and do not address the root causes of violent crime.
Durbin challenged the narrative that violent crime is concentrated only in cities led by Democrats. He pointed out that while crime rates have declined in places like Chicago, some Republican-led cities have higher rates of violent crime than Washington, D.C. “Let’s look at the reality. For the last two decades, the murder rate in my home state of Illinois has been lower than the murder rates in Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama—all states represented by Republicans on this Committee,” Durbin said.
He also noted that Illinois spends more per capita on policing than several other states and highlighted recent declines in homicide and shooting rates in Chicago. “In Chicago, over the first six months of the year, homicide rates are down 32 percent, [and] shootings have dropped 37 percent. We need to build on this success, not ignore it,” he stated.
Durbin introduced minority witnesses Gregory Jackson, Jr., President of the Rocket Foundation and former Deputy Director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention under President Biden, as well as Major General William L. Enyart, a retired member of both the U.S. Air Force and Army National Guard.
The senator referenced legislative efforts made during his tenure as Chair of the committee: “During my time as Chair, I held more than a dozen hearings on reducing violent crime. We focused on legislation, not lamentation. I reported numerous bills supporting law enforcement that were signed into law by President Biden, including the Protecting America’s First Responders Act and the Recruit and Retain Act. And we passed the historic Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to crack down on gun violence.”
Durbin criticized President Trump for cutting funding from programs intended to improve community safety and support law enforcement. He cited reductions in funding for community safety initiatives authorized by recent legislation and proposed cuts to federal programs targeting drug trafficking.
He also addressed Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement: “In Illinois, his misguided mass deportation [scheme] is targeting communities, but it’s not making them safer… Did you know that 70 percent of the immigrants detained so far by the President have no criminal convictions?”
Durbin further argued that deploying troops domestically is an illegal use of presidential power: “Let’s be clear: these are illegal, unconstitutional, and un-American power grabs by the President that actually endanger Americans.”
Concluding his remarks, Durbin called for bipartisan cooperation to reduce crime: “Violent crime is on the decline, but statistics don’t mean much to victims… Any crime is too much crime, and every American deserves to feel safe. So we should be working together on a bipartisan basis…to continue reducing crime and making our communities safer for all Americans.”
He reaffirmed his commitment as Ranking Member: “As Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will not sit idly by while this President tramples the Constitution. And I will use every tool at my disposal to reduce crime and protect our communities—in a lawful way that promotes lasting change.”
Video footage from Durbin’s opening statement was made available following the hearing.
