Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) says his sole focus in Congress is making sure illegal aliens are given amnesty to remain permanently in the United States.

In comments on Monday, Durbin said it is illegal aliens, not his Illinois constituents, who he is working “full time” and around the clock for.

Durbin said:

Listen, politics ain’t beanbag. When you get into tough, complicated, contentious issues, sometimes rhetoric gets very fiery. If you don’t have a tough skin, this is not a good business to get into. I know what happened. I stand behind every word that I said in terms of that meeting. I’m focused on one thing — not that meeting — but on making sure that those who are being protected by DACA and eligible for the DREAM Act have a future in America. I am focused on that full time. [Emphasis added]

Sen. Durbin responds to @SenTomCotton who says he "misrepresented" what @realDonaldTrump said during Oval Office meeting when @SenatorDurbin says referred "shi-hole" countries. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/NflI5XzlhC — Mike Puccinelli (@MPuccinelliCBS2) January 15, 2018

In the statement, Durbin was referring to a meeting at the White House where President Trump allegedly asked lawmakers why the U.S. was admitting thousands of foreign nationals every year from “shithole countries,” though Trump and others at the meeting have denied the allegations.

Durbin, Democrats and the Republican establishment have scrambled together to negotiate with the White House on a deal where potentially millions of illegal aliens shielded from deportation by the President Obama-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program are given amnesty.

Under Durbin’s DREAM Act, working and middle-class Americans would be put in further competition for U.S. jobs against up to 3.5 million newly legalized foreign nationals. A recent report found that 1 in 5 illegal aliens given amnesty under the DREAM Act would end up on food stamps and nearly 1 in 7 would end up on Medicaid, further straining the social safety net for America’s poor.