Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., lambasted Kirstjen Nielsen, saying the outgoing homeland security secretary “oversaw one of the largest-scale human rights violations in recent history.”
“In stealing 1000s of children, deporting their parents,& refusing to provide info for reunification, Sec. Nielsen oversaw one of the largest-scale human rights violations in recent history. Awarding her a lucrative deal or prestigious post is to legitimize+celebrate that abuse,” she tweeted on Tuesday.
In stealing 1000s of children, deporting their parents,& refusing to provide info for reunification, Sec. Nielsen oversaw one of the largest-scale human rights violations in recent history.
Awarding her a lucrative deal or prestigious post is to legitimize+celebrate that abuse. https://t.co/f2cgDXI48B
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 9, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet linked to an opinion piece in the New York Times published this week titled, “Cancel Kirstjen Nielsen, her role in terrorizing children should make her a permanent pariah.”
“She put babies in cages, traumatized children for life, and then appears to have lied to Congress about what she had done. She did this evil work with either blithe incompetence or malicious sloppiness, failing to create a system to properly track kids who were ripped from their families,” the op-ed said.
The policy referenced in Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet and in the op-ed is an Obama-era homeland security policy that led to the separation of parents and children of migrant families apprehended at the border. The Trump administration continued the policy, resulting in thousands of family separations and prompted criticism from Democrats and Republicans. Trump’s wife, first lady Melania Trump, was also against the zero-tolerance approach to illegal immigration that led to families being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump reportedly has been considering resuming family separations, placing pressure on members of his administration to use the policy. According to reports, Nielsen opposed the approach, which played a role in Trump’s decision to push her out.
Nielsen’s resignation and other high-level purges directed by the White House, reportedly spearheaded by Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller, have battered the department’s leadership and underscored tensions between the Senate and the White House. Some GOP senators, who have been vocal about their support for Nielsen, are worried the shakeup will lead to an unstable and highly politicized department.
Days before Nielsen submitted her resignation on Sunday, a group called Restore Public Trust urged Fortune 500 firms to reject any resumes of Trump immigration aides linked to policies that led to the separation of illegal immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, including Nielsen.
