Nielsen Hearing a Distortion of Administration Southern Border Policies

Washington, D.C—In response to today’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing with Department of Homeland Securtiy Secretary Kristjen Nielsen, Human Rights First’s Eleanor Acer issued the following statement:

Today’s hearing showed that Secretary Nielsen means to stick to the script and use the horrific plight of people fleeing the Northern Triangle to tout the administration’s draconian proposals to rewrite U.S. asylum law and jail families with children for months or longer. She also looked Congress in the eye and told them that her agency was not turning any asylum seekers away from ports-of-entry, despite numerous reports that CBP officers are doing just that.

It should be more than clear by now that the president’s cruel and illegal policies will not stop people from fleeing for their lives. Instead of doubling down on long-standing Trump White House policy goals, Secretary Nielsen should push the administration to address the human rights abuses driving so many to seek refuge rather than devising schemes to prevent them from seeking asylum as is absolutely legal under U.S. law.

For more information on the flaws of the administration’s policies on the southern border, see Human Rights First’s fact sheet or click here to learn why Mexico is not safe for refugees and asylum seekers.