With President-elect Donald Trump threatening to deport some 800,000 "Dreamers" protected by Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, Sen. Jeff Sessions found himself facing a heavy line of questioning about how he would address the situation during his attorney general confirmation hearing before the Senate on Tuesday.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) led the charge with a scathing takedown of Sessions' political history: "Sen. Sessions, since joining the Senate in 1997, you've voted against every immigration bill that included a path to citizenship for the undocumented," Durbin said. "You described the Dream Act, which I introduced 15 years ago to spare children who are undocumented through no fault of their own, as 'a reckless proposal for mass amnesty.' You opposed the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill, which passed the Senate four years ago. You've objected to immigrants volunteering to serve in our armed forces, saying, 'In terms of who's going to be most likely to be a spy: somebody from Cullman, Alabama, or somebody from Kenya?' When I asked what you would do to address the almost 800,000 Dreamers … you said, 'I believe in following the law. There's too much focus on people who are here illegally and not enough on the law.'"
"Sen. Sessions," Durbin finished, "there is not a spot of evidence in your public career to suggest that as attorney general you would use the authority of that office to resolve the challenges of our broken immigration system in a fair and humane manner. Tell me I'm wrong." Watch below. Jeva Lange
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