Durbin Slams Senate Republicans For Holding A Subcommittee Hearing Supporting Trump Administration Threats To Denaturalize Americans

Durbin Slams Senate Republicans For Holding A Subcommittee Hearing Supporting Trump Administration Threats To Denaturalize Americans

Durbin on the Trump Administration anti-immigration campaign that deserves the Subcommittee's attention: "The targeting of DACA holders, new barriers to a green card, and an end to the refugee program-are devastating to immigrants and American communities."

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing entitled "Protecting American Citizenship III: Denaturalization and Its Constitutional Limits." Durbin slammed Senate Republicans for holding a subcommittee hearing supporting the Trump Administration's threats of denaturalization-an attempt to intimidate naturalized Americans who challenge the President's policies.

Key Quotes:

"In my office in the Capitol… is a graying document that is a naturalization certificate-my mother's. She came to the United States at the age of two-brought here as an immigrant of Lithuania. After she was married and had two children, she decided to become a citizen of the United States. I have her naturalization certificate that she handed to me before she passed. I am proud of that-I am proud of the fact that it also declares I am the son of an immigrant. She is no longer with us and therefore cannot be threatened by anything we say today at this hearing, but the thought of taking something so precious away from her because of her political views does not sound like the America she was trying to be part of."

"In a Thanksgiving Truth Social post, the President said [he would] 'denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility.' This spring, MAGA Congressman Chip Roy introduced the 'MAMDANI Act of 2026' which aims to denaturalize individuals who advocate for socialism... Sound familiar? It should-these efforts harken back to the McCarthy [era], when denaturalization was used as a tool to silence political dissidents."

"Among those dissidents was Harry Bridges, a renowned Australian-born labor leader accused of being a communist. During the McCarthy era, he faced a relentless campaign to revoke his citizenship. But the Supreme Court ruled in his favor-not once, but twice… Relying on the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court found that Congress does not have the power to take away an American's citizenship-unless the citizenship was unlawfully procured."

"Even under the first Trump Administration, only an estimated 160 people were denaturalized. So why hold a hearing to discuss this rare process? The title of this hearing says it all- 'Protecting American Citizenship.' Should American citizenship be, as the President and his faithful have suggested, about fealty to one man and his ideology? Or should it be about an individual's fealty to this country and our Constitution?"

"I happen to believe the latter. Just look at DACA recipients and Dreamers. They grew up pledging allegiance to the flag and serve our country each day as doctors, teachers, and firefighters. They are American in every way but their paperwork, and they deserve a path to citizenship."

"But this Administration is doing everything possible to stop hardworking immigrants-even those who follow every rule-from securing citizenship. Last week, the Administration issued a new policy to force most applicants to go abroad to get a green card."

"After outcry from around the country, DHS claimed to roll back this policy, saying that applicants who 'benefit the national interest and provide economic benefits' would not be affected. The Administration has not clarified what this means. But we can take an educated guess. Just look at the refugee program. The President has barred all refugees from coming to the United States, excepting those whose admission it deems in the national interest. The only refugees the Trump Administration has decided [are] qualified so far? White Afrikaners."

"These policy changes-the targeting of DACA holders, new barriers to a green card, and an end to the refugee program-are devastating to immigrants and American communities. They deserve our attention."

Video of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Audio of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Footage of Durbin's opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

-30-