Later this afternoon, the U.S. Senate will vote on cloture on the nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen for DHS Secretary. The following is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice Education Fund:
We urge Senators to oppose Kirstjen Nielsen’s nomination as DHS Secretary.
From the first week of his presidency, Trump and his Administration have moved to remake U.S. immigration and refugee policy. The list is as long as it is extreme: imposing a ban on millions of Muslims; cutting refugee admissions; seeking billions of dollars for a border wall, deportation agents and detention centers; eviscerating immigration enforcement priorities; deporting long-settled immigrants regardless of equities; conducting “silent raids” against immigrants who comply with the law and check in regularly with the government; eviscerating protections for Central American minors fleeing violence; using the specter of criminality to advance sweeping raids against immigrant youth; straining to punish local jurisdictions more interested in public safety than aiding and abetting mass deportation; seeking to slash legal immigration; ending DACA and plunging some 800,000 young immigrants into crisis; and dismantling protections for some 300,000 TPS holders from nations in no condition to accept their return.
As a key aide and mentee of John Kelly, one of the architects of the above policy vision, Nielsen has been a willing accomplice helping to shape and implement this profoundly disturbing and un-American vision of our country. Senators of both parties should vote against her nomination accordingly.
