“How do you sleep at night?” “Aren’t you a mother, too?” “Do you hear the babies crying?”
The 46-year-old wasdining with a colleague at MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a popular eatery near the White House, when protesters from the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America came into the establishment and confronted her, CNN reported.
“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people who come here seeking asylum in the United States?” one asked. “We call on you to end family separation and abolish ICE.”
“No human being is illegal. No child is illegal,” another said. “How much do you make Kirstjen? How much do you make locking up children?”
Susan Walsh/AP/REX/Shutterstock
After about 10 minutes, Nielsen and her colleague left the restaurant and got into an SUV, CNN reported.
“[Sec. Nielsen] encourages all — including this group — who want to see an immigration system that works, contributes to our economy, protects our security, and reflects our values reach out to members and seek their support to close immigration loopholes that made our system a mess,” Houlton tweeted.
On Tuesday, President Trump applauded Nielsen’s work in a press conference the day before, in which she defended the “zero-tolerance” policy of separating parents from children at the border.
“Homeland Security @SecNielsen did a fabulous job yesterday at the press conference explaining security at the border and for our country, while at the same time recommending changes to obsolete and nasty laws, which force family separation,” he tweeted. “We want ‘heart’ and security in America!”
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Trump has been vocal about the immigration policy in the past, trying to place blame on Democrats for his “zero-tolerance” policy.
“I hate the children being taken away. The Democrats have to change their law — that’s their law,” Trump told reporters on Friday.
“The Fake News is not mentioning the safety and security of our country when talking about illegal immigration,” he added on Wednesday on Twitter. “Our immigration laws are the weakest and worst anywhere in the world, and the [Democrats] will do anything not to change them and to obstruct-want open borders which means crime!”
However, asThe New York Timesnotes, there’s actuallyno law that says children must be taken away from their parentsat the border. In fact, it was the Trump administration’s decision to prosecute asylum seekers who enter the U.S. at the border that has led to parents being sent into criminal custody and separated from their children.
And White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders reiterated on Monday that Trump will not sign any legislative fix that does not include funding for the border wall he has promised his supporters.
source: people.com
