Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen
Nielsen testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol
Hill, Jan. 16, 2018.
(Associated Press)
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was accosted by an angry socialist mob and forced out of a Mexican restaurant in Washington on Tuesday evening amid backlash over the federal government's “zero-tolerance” stand at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The video, posted by the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, shows a group of protesters harassing Nielsen at MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a restaurant near the White House.
“Shame!,” one protester shouts at Nielsen.
“If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace,” another yells.
“Kirstjen Nielsen, you’re a villain! Lock her up!”“Kirstjen Nielsen, you’re a villain! Lock her up!” a third says.
“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people that come here seeking asylum in the United States?” another person is heard yelling. “We call on you to end family separation and abolish ICE.”
Another protester had a problem with Nielsen’s choice of where to dine.
“In a Mexican restaurant, of all places!,” the heckler shouts. “The f-----g gall!”
The protesters also played an audio clip of crying children at the facilities after being reportedly taken away from their parents who attempted to cross the border illegally.
“How does that make you feel?” one socialist activist asks. “Do you hear the babies crying?”
A separate video captures Nielsen eventually leaving the restaurant. Some protesters are seen speaking with police officers, another video shows.
The group defended its actions Tuesday, saying “We will not stand by and let Secretary Nielsen dine in peace, while she is directing her employees to tear little girls away from their mothers and crying boys away from their fathers at our border.”
“Secretary Nielsen and everyone else who has carried out these brutal and cold-blooded orders to rip apart families should never be allowed to eat and drink in public again. These barbarous acts must end and those at the helm must be held accountable. While Secretary Nielsen’s dinner may have been ruined, it is nothing compared to the horrors she has inflicted on innocent families,” the statement posted on Facebook added.
DHS press secretary Tyler Q. Houlton said Nielsen was having “a work dinner” at the time and faced protesters who “share her concern with our current immigration laws that have created a crisis on our southern border.”
“[Secretary Nielsen] encourages all – including this group – who want to see an immigration system that works, contributes to our economy, protects our security, & reflects our values reach out to Members & seek their support to close immigration loopholes that made our system a mess,” Houlton continued.
“The Secretary has been working with Members of Congress for months in search of a solution and she will continue to do so this week.”
“The Secretary has been working with Members of Congress for months in search of a solution and she will continue to do so this week.”The Trump administration has been facing a backlash over the rollout of the “zero-tolerance” policy that led to at least 2,000 young children being separated from their parents after they crossed the border illegally.
- Tyler Q. Houlton, press secretary, Department of Homeland Security
Top Republicans in Congress are scrambling to come up with a legislative solution to the controversy. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Fox News that a solution could be coming in a "matter of days."
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