U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), has led a group of 38 Senate Democrats in addressing concerns to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem regarding the Trump Administration’s treatment of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.
The senators referenced a statement from DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, which they say conflicts with public DHS guidance. They wrote: “McLaughlin said: ‘Illegal aliens who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportation.’ In fact, DACA was created to provide protections from immigration enforcement for certain noncitizens brought to the United States as children, also known as Dreamers, who undergo strict background checks and meet specific educational or work requirements. In contrast to Ms. McLaughlin’s puzzling statement, public DHS guidance makes clear that DACA holders are ‘not considered to be unlawfully present’ in the United States and that ‘[a]n individual who has received deferred action is authorized by DHS to be in the United States for the duration of the deferred action period.’”
They further contrasted these statements and actions with broad public support for Dreamers, stating: “Americans overwhelmingly support providing Dreamers a path to citizenship, and in December 2024, then-President-elect Trump stated that he supported protections for Dreamers to remain in the United States. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals kept in place a stay that protects current DACA holders and limited a nationwide injunction on new DACA approvals to the state of Texas. In June, 41 Senators sentUnited States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) a letter requesting that USCIS begin processing new DACA applications, consistent with these decisions. Instead of doing so, DHS has issued a statement urging DACA holders—who know no home but the United States—to ‘self-deport.’ It was also disturbing to see DHS recently waste taxpayer dollars on the prolonged detention of a deaf and non-verbal DACA holder with no criminal history, contrary to your claims that the Trump Administration is arresting the ‘worst of the worst.’”
The senators concluded by noting disapproval among Americans regarding recent immigration actions: “Actions like this one, targeting DACA holders who are lawfully in the United States, and who have committed no crime, help explain why a majority of the American public disapproves of the Trump Administration’s track record on immigration.”
In addition to Durbin, Padilla, and Kelly, 35 other Democratic senators signed onto the letter.
Senator Durbin first introduced the Dream Act twenty-four years ago as bipartisan legislation aimed at giving undocumented immigrants brought to America as children an opportunity for citizenship. In 2010, he joined Senator Richard Lugar in urging President Obama to halt deportations of Dreamers; this request preceded President Obama’s announcement establishing DACA thirteen years ago. Since then, over 835,000 individuals have received protection under DACA.
The Dream Act was part of comprehensive immigration reform legislation passed by the Senate in 2013 but was not taken up by House Republican leadership. Over time, efforts to advance similar legislation have faced repeated filibusters by Senate Republicans.
