Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen praised President Trump and criticized Democrats who claim the crisis at the border is “manufactured.”
Nielsen’s comments came during a Wednesday night interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. In addition to her criticism of a Congress that “refuse[s] to act,” the DHS secretary offered firm reasoning behind the claim that border walls “work.”
WATCH:
“I just am sorely disappointed, this a severe humanitarian and security crisis,” Nielsen said. “The president is taking leadership. He is taking decisive action and Congress continues to refuse to act. He is making it very clear what the crisis is, what we need to do. They have no alternative. They refuse to engage and it’s very, very disappointing …”
Hannity asked about Democrats calling the crisis at the border a “manufactured” one.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s offensive,” said Nielsen. “It’s disrespectful. I can’t imagine being one of these victim’s families and listening to an elected member of Congress claim that their pain and their suffering is manufactured. It’s offensive is what it is. But it’s also unprofessional.”
“Walls work,” Nielsen added later. “We can’t say it enough. The facts are incontrovertible. Anywhere that we have built wall, illegal migration has dropped between 90 and 95 percent. They know that. Those are the facts. They’ve been to the border themselves. They claim that they have talked to our border patrol agents. They claim they’re in favor of border security, but the president has made it clear this is not an either, this is not an or situation, this is an and. We need security at our ports of entry and we need security between our ports of entry.”
Nielsen ended the segment by noting that both President Trump and Vice President Pence “continue to take leadership.” (RELATED: Twitter Goes Wild Over Chuck And Nancy’s ‘Painfully Awkward’ Appearance In Trump Rebuttal)
“They continue to try to solve this crisis,” she said. “They continue to describe it for what it is. They’re doing it with compassion. I think you saw a president last night that was very serious, that was taking a leadership role. He was showing compassion and very importantly, he was making it clear that he continues to listen to the men and women on the front line who protect this country every day, often at danger to their own lives. That’s that’s what the president is doing. I don’t know what the Democrats are doing, because the president has made offers. The president has explained to them what needs to be done. They have come up with no solutions on their own, but they continue to claim as you said, that this is a manufactured crisis. Nothing could be further from the truth.”