U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has criticized Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem for what he describes as threats to American citizens and legal misstatements by senior Trump Administration officials.
In a letter addressed to Secretary Noem, Durbin expressed his concerns: “I am outraged at the repeated targeting and racial profiling of U.S. citizens facing warrantless searches and detainment by federal immigration authorities. I am also deeply concerned by misstatements of law by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Chief Gregory Bovino—the senior Trump Administration official responsible for overseeing a series of broadly criticized immigration enforcement actions across multiple states… To state the obvious, we are not a ‘papers, please’ country. American citizens generally do not have ‘immigration documents,’ and to require them to carry such documents to avoid being violently stopped or interrogated by federal immigration agents is absurd and unconstitutional. There is no requirement in the law for U.S. citizens to carry identification to avoid arbitrary arrest and detention.”
Durbin outlined relevant laws and court decisions in his letter: “The founders included explicit protections from unreasonable searches and seizures in the U.S. Constitution to prevent the types of arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests of U.S. citizens that are currently occurring in American cities. The Immigration and Nationality Act gives an immigration agent limited authority to question individuals that the agent has a reason to believe are noncitizens as to their right to be or remain in the United States. However, as Justice Kavanaugh noted in his concurrence in Vasquez Perdomo v. Dep’t of Homeland Security, ‘[t]o be clear, apparent ethnicity alone cannot furnish reasonable suspicion.’ He also stated that, ‘reasonable suspicion means only that immigration officers may briefly stop the individual and inquire about immigration status. If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after a brief encounter.’ Unfortunately, these caveats have not prevented an escalating number of arbitrary stops, arrests, and detentions of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents.”
The letter referenced several incidents involving alleged abuses by federal agents, including one involving Mubashir—a 20-year-old Somali American from Minnesota—who was reportedly tackled by masked agents during his lunch break before being detained.
According to Durbin’s account, many non-white individuals in Minneapolis have recently been approached by agents asking about their place of birth and requesting identification.
Durbin further wrote: “The Department’s cavalier attitude towards the law continues to lead to frequent abuses against American citizens… Immigration officials are targeting Black and Brown individuals and ignoring their desperate attempts to assert their citizenship—sometimes as they are chased, thrown to the ground, pulled into unmarked vehicles by masked men, handcuffed, and held for hours, even days.”
He also cited other cases such as Maria Greeley—a Chicago resident detained despite showing proof of citizenship—and shared additional stories involving Javier Ramirez, Leonardo Garcia, and Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales.
Concluding his letter with demands for corrective action from DHS leadership regarding these practices, Durbin stated: “Terrifying experiences like these undoubtedly will become more commonplace for American citizens unless the Department abides by the law and reins in its reckless immigration enforcement operations. Please immediately issue a correction to the Department’s false statement that U.S. citizens must carry proof of citizenship and immediately instruct your employees that unconstitutional ‘citizen checks’ are not permitted and must immediately cease. Please also ensure that your law enforcement agents, including Mr. Bovino, receive sufficient training in how to constitutionally enforce the law.”
As Ranking Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Durbin holds an oversight role concerning federal judicial matters—including supervision over law enforcement agencies such as DHS.
