As the Trump Administration’s new “zero-tolerance” policy callously separates children and their parents at the border in an attempt to curb immigration, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has shown no remorse. “We will not apologize for the job we do or for the job law enforcement does for doing the job that American people expect us to do. Illegal actions have and must have consequences. No more free passes, no more get out jail free cards,” she recently said when speaking to the National Sheriffs’ Association. Her cavalier attitude has drawn criticism and calls for her resignation. This week when she headed to a Mexican restaurant in Washington DC, she was surrounded by protesters.
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Headed by The Democratic Socialists group, activists encircled her table at MXDC Cocina Mexicana and gave speeches about the harmful policies she stands behind. In a video of the incident, they can be heard chanting “shame, shame, shame, shame,” and one person said, “If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace.” Though it’s hard to make out exactly what’s happening in the video, Nielsen remains quiet, before she is “driven out.”
The Democratic Socialists said police were called to the scene, but no one was arrested. Following the encounter, a member of the group put out a statement. “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,” Margaret McLaughlin, a member of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America Steering Committee, said. “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.”
Check out the entire encounter below.
DHS press secretary offered its own version of the story, calling them a “small group of protesters who share her concern with our current immigration laws.”