Secretary of Homeland Security for the United States, Kirstjen Nielsen was run out of a Mexican restaurant yesterday while dining with a colleague. Why? Due to her stance and job of defending the president's policy regarding the zero tolerance policy at the border of separating kids from their families. She held a press conference yesterday trying to diffuse the backlash against this policy and it was not a big success. CNN's Chris Cillizza came up with 5 reasons why this press conference was a bust by Nielsen. They are:
- She offered a technical response to a deeply emotional issue
- She kept claiming that only Congress could fix the problem
- She kept going back to how the administration had no choice but to enforce this law
- She feigned ignorance regarding the photos of children in cages
- She blamed families for creating a false narrative
Here is the full press conference of Nielsen, here.
With that being said, that night following this presser, Kirstjen went out to a Mexican restaurant in D.C and was heckled by protesters. She was trying to enjoy a meal with a colleague. I bet she wasn't expecting a group of protesters to disturb her so inappropriately like this in public. These protesters had no problem causing a scene right in the middle of the restaurant all in the name of immigrants. They chanted "If kids don't eat in peace, you don't eat in peace!". Take a look.
Do you feel bad for Kirstjen here? Is the protesters behavior warranted? Is Nielsen entitled to a peaceful meal? Yes, she's a public figure/administrator, but does anyone deserve heckling on this level? You can vote here in our Kelly Financial poll on what your thoughts are:
The issue of illegal immigration has long been a hot topic of debate even prior to POTUS Trump being president. He ran on the idea of building a wall, giving Americans more jobs, deporting illegal immigrants, and cracking down on border security. Now that it's in the forefront, the claws are out. Photos of children at the border, crying, and in some cases in cages, have gone viral and upset the whole conversation. These photos are disturbing, sad, and pull at your heartstrings. Whether or not they were deliberately taken to make Trump's policy harder to pass or not, it's effective and even a good amount of Republicans think this zero tolerance policy has gone too far. Other conservatives think this is a crafted move from the democratic play book to sway the vote and decision to cater to their politics. Regardless of the true nature of these photos, they are powerful, take a look...
In one example, the Associated Press even captured audio of children talking to their parents, crying from having to be separated from their parents. It's quite disturbing...
Whatever you think, you can't deny that the evidence found at the border through photos and videos of parenting being separated from their parents is upsetting. This might be the country's biggest political conflict in the last decade...
Read more about Nielsen's press conference at the White House yesterday and the Trump adminsitration's thoughts on how to handle the problem at the border, HERE.
-Producer Lightning