Durbin: Homeland Security chief should resign
WASHINGTON — Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin called for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to resign at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday that saw lawmakers of both parties criticize the Trump administration policy of separating migrant children from their detained parents and its botched efforts to reunite many of them. Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democratic leader, said the policy “shows the extremes this administration will go to, to punish families fleeing horrific gang and sexual violence and seeking refuge in the United States.” He added, “Someone in this administration has to accept responsibility.”
Durbin’s demand will likely be ignored, and Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton quickly issued a statement saying Nielsen is “doing the job she was nominated, confirmed and sworn to do” and said “the obstructionists in Congress” should pass laws protecting U.S. borders.
But the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of prosecuting migrants entering the U.S. without authorization, and its separation of thousands of children from their parents, has drawn election-year criticism from both parties.
Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Trump’s crackdown on people illegally crossing the border from Mexico was well-intentioned but has had unintended consequences. He said the administration has “mishandled” family separations.