Dems hammer Nielsen over border crisis
Democrats and immigration activists are firing back at Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, blaming her for the humanitarian crisis on the southwest border as the government struggles to deal with a surge in asylum seekers.
Nielsen has painted a dire picture of the situation with federal law enforcement agencies forced to choose between manning ports of entry and caring for asylum seekers crossing between those ports. And President Trump raised the stakes on Friday, vowing to close down the border if Mexico does not do more to stop migrants.
"The system is in freefall. DHS is doing everything possible to respond to a growing humanitarian catastrophe while also securing our borders, but we have reached peak capacity and are now forced to pull from other missions to respond to the emergency," Nielsen said in a statement Friday.
The statement followed a a letter to the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday, in which Nielsen requested emergency funding for border security and specific powers to detain asylum-seeking family units for longer than currently allowed.
But Democrats are pushing back, accusing Nielsen of misrepresenting the cause of the crisis and failing to understand how to address it.
"In her letter to Congress, the Secretary continues to confuse and mislead on the situation at the border and how we got to this point. President Trump’s border security and immigration policies have failed, and the Administration deserves much of the blame for making the difficult situation at the border worse," said House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in a statement Friday.
https://thehill.com/latino/436545-dems-hammer-nielsen-over-border-crisis
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