Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois demanded on Tuesday that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resign due to her involvement in President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.
“I am today calling on the architect of this humanitarian disaster, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, to step down,” Durbin said during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on family reunification efforts. “The family separation policy is more than a bureaucratic lapse in judgement, it is and was a cruel policy inconsistent with the bedrock values of this nation.”
Durbin reiterated his demand for resignation on Twitter following the hearing. (RELATED: Democrats Slam ICE For ‘Morally Reprehensible’ Phone Call Policy)
“In the name of the 711 lost children, the families that have been “deleted” by her agency, and common decency, I’m calling on Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the architect of this humanitarian disaster, to step down,” Durbin said in a tweet.
In the name of the 711 lost children, the families that have been “deleted” by her agency, and common decency, I’m calling on Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, the architect of this humanitarian disaster, to step down.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) July 31, 2018
While Nielsen has taken heat for the policy of separating children from their parents after families illegally cross the U.S. border, it actually stems from the 1997 Flores settlement decree, which blocks children from detainment for more than 20 days.
President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance immigration policy requires that all criminal aliens entering the country be apprehended rather than allowing family units to take advantage of the “Flores loophole” and be immediately released despite the unlawful border crossing.
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