Durbin Statement on Visit to El Paso, Texas, with Vice President Harris

EL PASO, TX – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after visiting the southwest border at El Paso, Texas, with Vice President Kamala Harris, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16):

“I was last in El Paso two years ago.  What I saw at the El Paso Del Norte Processing Center on that day has haunted me ever since.  Simply put, the former President’s border policies failed.  His cruelty and fear-mongering did not deter families from seeking safe haven and it did not make us safer. 

“The challenge we face now is to establish a fair, sustainable immigration policy that secures our borders and is consistent with our values.  Unlike the former President, this Administration is not responding with cruelty. 

“I applaud the leadership of Vice President Harris and Secretary Mayorkas in restoring our values at the border.  As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will continue working to fix our broken immigration system.”

Durbin previously visited El Paso, Texas, in April 2019 to get a firsthand look at the situation on the southwest border.

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