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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, throughout our Nation's history, election season has brought out the dark side of politics.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson infamously waged smear campaigns against each other during the election of 1800. Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams exchanged accusations of murder and impropriety in the election of 1828, and questions about Grover Cleveland's activity out of wedlock became campaign fodder in the election of 1844--all to say dirty campaign tricks are hardly foreign to American elections.

But, today, I want to address a particularly vile lie being circulated by former President Trump and his Vice Presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, and their supporters during this campaign, and this lie has real-life consequences.

In recent weeks, false claims have been circulating on social media that members of the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, OH, are abducting, killing, and eating people's pets.

The former President even made this claim during his debate with Kamala Harris. This claim is not only outrageous and patently false, with both city officials and law enforcement confirming they have received zero criminal reports of such conduct, but it is now becoming a safety concern for the entire Springfield, OH, community. Despite this, the former President and his running mate have continued to knowingly spread this lie.

Shockingly, in an interview with CNN this week, Senator Vance admitted that he was willing to ``create stories'' to get media attention. And that is exactly what he and former President Trump have done--first on social media, then during last week's debate to an audience of 67 million Americans, and then on national news.

Think about that. A man who is seeking to become Vice President of the United States admitted that he was willing to spread vicious lies simply to get media attention.

But these lies have real consequences for Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH, and across the country. Since this smear campaign began, there have been multiple evacuations of schools, government buildings, and medical facilities in Springfield, OH, because of bomb and shooting threats related to these lies.

I want to thank Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican and my former Senate colleague, for stepping up to debunk these lies and protect the people of his State.

Yet these candidates have doubled down. They are willing to spread lies and put an entire community at risk to amplify their anti- immigrant platform.

But this behavior is not a surprise. For years, the former President has engaged in bigoted fearmongering, especially when it comes to the topic of immigration.

One incident summarizes his approach well. It was January of 2018. Then-President Trump, myself, and a handful of other lawmakers were sitting in the Oval Office in the White House, discussing a bipartisan immigration deal that I had negotiated, along with Senator Lindsey Graham.

The agreement would have devoted billions of dollars to securing the border and giving legal protection to Dreamers, young immigrants who grew up in this country. But the former President was not interested. He complained that it would lead to more immigration from Haiti, which he dismissed in profane terms that I am loathe to repeat on the floor of the Senate.

I was stunned. His words were hate-filled, vile, and racist. I could not believe that the President of the United States of America not only held these views but felt comfortable enough to speak them aloud in the Oval Office. But he did. So it was hardly surprising that, when presented with the opportunity to continue to fuel his anti-Haitian hate, the former President has taken that opportunity.

I speak on the floor today to tell Haitian immigrants and Haitian Americans and the entire immigrant community: There is no place for hate in America--no place for hate. You are a critical piece of American leadership. You make our communities and our Nation stronger.

Just look at the attorney general of my home State of Illinois, a dear friend of mine, Kwame Raoul. He is the son of Haitian immigrants, and his service to the State of Illinois and the Nation is invaluable. He, too, has condemned the former President's fearmongering.

Or look at CPT Alix Idrache, a top member of his class and graduate of West Point, who is a pilot for the U.S. Army. He was born in Haiti. He rose to national prominence, in 2016, after a photo showed him with tears streaming down his face at the West Point graduation. His tears, he explained, were a representation of the American dream.

For Haitians who have already experienced violence and instability in their native country, the lies that the former President is spreading only make their lives in America--somewhere they hoped would be a safe place--more dangerous.

It disheartens me that, in the year 2024, I must come to the floor of the Senate to condemn the lies of a former President who is running yet another political campaign fueled by fearmongering and hate.

Immigrants make our Nation stronger, and any attempt to score cheap political points from lies suggesting otherwise should be met with swift condemnation from both sides of the aisle.

It is ironic that, at a time when these dehumanizing remarks are being made about immigrants in Springfield, OH, there was a press conference yesterday in St. Louis, MO. I call it to the attention of everyone.

St. Louis is a town I know well. I grew up across the river, in East St. Louis, IL, and I have spent many a day in St. Louis, MO. The town has seen its problems and its challenges, and, a few years ago, they decided to try to analyze what the problem was. The problem was they needed a workforce, and they didn't have one. Do you know what they suggested as a solution? Immigrants--immigrants. They need more in St. Louis.

Yesterday, there was an announcement by the chamber of commerce. It was an extraordinary announcement that they have attracted some 30,000 immigrants to that city. They believe that it means that they can move forward now with economic development. It was a plan by the chamber of commerce.

Contrast those two remarks--remarks of former President Donald Trump and his Vice Presidential candidate, J.D. Vance--about immigration, dehumanizing these immigrants and suggesting they are not only unnecessary in the United States but actually negative in their impact. They are wrong in Springfield, OH. They are clearly wrong in St. Louis, MO. They are wrong in America.

Immigrants have made this country. We are a nation of immigrants, and I would say quite boldly: I am damn proud of it.

My mother was an immigrant to this country, brought here at the age of 2. I am glad that my grandparents, whom I never knew, had the courage to make that journey to the United States. Because of that courage and determination, like so many other immigrants--because of it--I am standing here today as a Senator representing the great State of Illinois.

How in the world can we continue to allow this rhetoric to come from Trump and Vance in terms of the immigrants' impact on America?

We can see before our eyes it makes a difference. The diversity of our population is our strength, and that strength should be capitalized on.

To think that young people who are Dreamers, brought here by their families, run the risk of being deported at some point because of this rhetoric makes me sick to my stomach. These are wonderful young people, extraordinary contributors to America's future, and we should applaud them, not hate them.

I can tell you for a fact. I know a little bit about the Senate. I have served here for a number of years. There are Members of the Senate on the other side of the aisle who want not one single new immigrant to come to America.

I believe there should be an orderly process. That is why I was one of the Gang of 8 to create the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, which passed in the Senate quite a few years ago. It should pass again.

We should have an orderly process of immigration and capitalize on the benefits that they bring to this country, and build our economy on those. But to say that we are opposed to all immigrants is just plain unfair. It is wrong, and it is un-American.

St. Louis now realizes that with a workforce, they can start to rebuild their economy, and they are applauding that. Immigration is part of the solution if it is done in the proper, orderly manner. And we can do it that way if we pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The notion of deporting 11 million people from the United States is a fantasy. It cannot, it should not ever happen. These people have made a great contribution to this country.

President Trump wants to say that, if you have a woman, for example, who is a mother who is undocumented in a house full of documented citizens, she should be deported or everyone in the house should be deported. It isn't going to happen, and it should never happen.

We should capitalize on comprehensive immigration reform and make it a viable part of America's future.

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