Executive Session
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Stabenow), the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren), and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.
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Mr. DURBIN. Stabenow), and the Senator from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I spent 5 weeks in my home in Springfield, IL, following orders--good ones--to suggest that I had to get out of circulation and so should everyone else. It was an interesting moment. My wife and I think it may have been the longest stretch we had ever spent under the same roof together. We got along, which is good, and I got to field the neighborhood a little more than I usually do as I travel back and forth almost every week.
I got to know the people a little more, waving from a distance. I looked around and noticed that almost every lawn had a sign on it saying: ``We love healthcare workers.'' Many people had signs in their windows to back that up too, and we should. These doctors, these nurses, and these people who work in nursing homes caring for the elderly and making certain they are in a good, safe environment are important, and they are risking their lives for the people whom we love. We thank them over and over. But there is one part of that group that I would like to highlight for just a few moments on the floor of the Senate. I want to spend a few minutes talking about one special group of healthcare workers--immigrants.
One in six healthcare and social service workers--3.1 million out of 18.7 million--are immigrants. When they come on television and give us a breakdown of what is going on in emergency rooms and the likelihood of our success in communities in dealing with this coronavirus, you must notice so many times and think that they may be newcomers to the United States. Many of them are.
These immigrants are playing a critical role in the battle against this pandemic. Yet the President of the United States and many around him continue to disparage immigrants, falsely claiming that they are just a drain on society, that all they are doing is taking our jobs away and we really wouldn't miss them if they were gone. So I came to the floor today to tell a story about one of them, an immigrant health hero. I will be joined by some of my colleagues who have similar stories to tell.
We are inviting people to share their own stories on social media using the hashtag ``immigranthealthheroes.'' I will put up the hashtag here so that if anyone wants to check in, they can do so.
Many of these healthcare workers are young immigrants who came to the United States as children. They are known as Dreamers. They are American in every way except for their legal immigration status. They were brought here at an early age by parents who didn't give them a vote on the decision, grew up in the United States, went to our schools, sometimes all the way through college and professional school, want to make a life in this country, have no criminal record, and are just looking for a chance.
It was 9 years ago when I joined Republican Senator Dick Lugar on a bipartisan basis asking President Obama to use his executive authority to protect these Dreamers from deportation. He responded and created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
DACA provides temporary protection from deportation for Dreamers if they register with the government, pay a substantial fee, and go through a criminal background check. More than 800,000 Dreamers came forward and received President Obama's DACA protection.
DACA unleashed the full potential for these Dreamers that they never dreamed they would have, and they started contributing to America as soldiers and teachers and small business owners.
More than 200,000 DACA recipients are now categorized as ``essential critical infrastructure workers''--``essential critical infrastructure workers.'' Who came up with that name? It is the definition of President Trump's own Department of Homeland Security. One out of four of these DACA protectees are essential critical infrastructure workers, and among these essential workers are 41,700 DACA recipients in the healthcare industry. They include doctors, intensive care nurses, paramedics, and respiratory therapists.
But on September 5, 2017, President Trump repealed DACA. Because of that action by the President, hundreds of thousands of Dreamers face losing their jobs, but, more importantly, they face being deported, many to countries they barely remember, if they remember at all.
The courts stepped in and blocked the President from enforcing this DACA decision, but he took on the appeal of that decision, and now it is in the Supreme Court, just across the street.
I was proud to lead 172 current and former Members of Congress on a bipartisan brief asking the Supreme Court to rule against President Trump's repeal of DACA. These young DACA recipients are being protected while the case is being considered by the Supreme Court, but a decision could come down any day--could come down any day--that basically makes these young people subject to deportation and takes away any legal right they have to work. If the Court rules in favor of President Trump on DACA, 200,000 essential American workers will be sidelined and deported, even as we fight this pandemic.
Last month, I sent a letter to the President--37 of my colleagues joined me--urging him to extend the work authorization for DACA recipients, not to make their future depend on what happens in the Court. The President has the authority to say that, at least until the end of the calendar year--or beyond, I hope--we are not going to deport these young people, and we are not going to take their jobs away, particularly those in the healthcare industry.
But if you consider President Trump's attitude toward immigrants, you know he is likely to forge ahead with his decision to deport the Dreamers. That means we have to do our part.
I worked with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to include a provision to automatically extend work authorizations for DACA recipients in the CARES Act that Congress just passed a few weeks ago. We presented it to the leaders on a bipartisan basis. We had the approval of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, but not the Republican leader in the Senate. He stopped us from extending this protection. I don't know what his situation is in Kentucky, but I can tell you that in Illinois, we need every one of these healthcare workers we have today. We can't afford to lose them. To think that 41,000 DACA recipients and another 11,000 TPS critical healthcare workers would be deported would mean that many Americans who count on these great professionals are going to get less care and perhaps terrible results.
As Congress debates the next legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic, I will continue pushing for this provision. It is not too much to ask that if these people simply want to be working in ERs and hospitals, risking their lives for all of us, that they at least have the peace of mind to know that they can stay until the end of the calendar year. That is all I am asking for. Is it too much to ask? Some of them are suffering, and their families are suffering too. All they want is the authority to stay here.
Last year, the House of Representatives passed the Dream and Promise Act, based on the Dream Act, with a strong vote. Senator McConnell has refused to call it in the Senate. It could help us. I wish he would consider it.
I have come to the floor over 100 times and told the stories of Dreamers. I don't think there is any better way to make the case--meet them, know them, realize what they brought to America and what they bring each day.
Today, I want to tell you the story of this man. His name is Manuel Bernal. He works in the emergency department at the Advocate Christ Medical Center.
Manuel was brought to the United States when he was 2 years old. He grew up in Memphis, TN. He always wanted to become a doctor. He wrote me a letter, and he said:
Early on, I developed an appreciation for the medical profession when I witnessed the compassionate care received by a loved one at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Manuel graduated in the top 10 percent of his hospital class. He was a leader of several high school honor societies. In his spare time, he was a swimmer, a football player, and volunteered at the St. Jude Club and the Key Club.
He continued his education at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He graduated summa cum laude in biology with a minor in chemistry. In college, he worked as a medical scribe for doctors in the emergency room at a small community hospital in Chattanooga. After this experience, he decided he wanted to go all the way. He wanted to become an emergency room physician. He continued his education at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
Allow me a few seconds to praise this wonderful school. He was one of dozens of DACA recipients at Stritch, which was the first medical school to admit DACA students. They do not receive any special treatment in the selection process, and they are not eligible for a penny in Federal financial assistance. Many of them borrowed money from the State of Illinois to complete their medical education in the hopes that once they are licensed, they can come back and practice in our State, which they promise to do.
Here is what Manuel says DACA means to him:
DACA has undoubtedly opened up many doors for me. It meant allowing me to obtain my dream of serving others through emergency medicine. If DACA ended, I would be forced to stop doing not only what I love doing but what I trained so hard to do.
Today, Dr. Manuel Bernal is an emergency room resident at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Chicago, one of the busiest trauma hospitals in our city. His supervisor told him he did not have to treat COVID-19 patients because he is only a resident, but he stepped forward and volunteered to do it anyway.
Manuel's DACA is set to expire in October, 5 months from now. Will America be stronger if this doctor leaves? Will they be better at Advocate Christ Medical Center, the trauma hospital, if Manuel was forced to leave this country? I can't imagine anyone would answer yes.
Manuel and hundreds of thousands of other Dreamers are counting on the Supreme Court to reject President Trump's abolition of DACA and counting on us who serve in the Senate to solve this crisis President Trump alone created. As long as I am a U.S. Senator, I will continue to come to the floor of the Senate to advocate for Manuel and for thousands of others who simply want a chance to prove themselves to earn their way into America's future. It would be an American tragedy at this moment when we face this national emergency to lose these brave and talented young people. They are saving lives every day, and they are risking their own to do it. Can we ask anything more of anyone else in this country? We must ensure that Manuel and hundreds of thousands of others in our essential workforce are not forced to stop working when their services are needed now more than ever.
Ultimately, we need to pass legislation that is just common sense, that says these young people who came here as kids and have worked doubly hard under the greatest of pressures and have made a success of their lives, like this young man, can stay in America and be part of our future. He is truly a healthcare hero, and he is an immigrant. He is an immigrant healthcare hero, and there are thousands just like him across America. We need them now more than ever.
I see that Senator Cortez Masto is here. I know she wants to speak on this subject.
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