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Source: 30dB.com – @SecNielsen
Nielsen’s questionable statements on Twitter, coupled with her defensive press conference on Monday, have established her as one of the main figures associated with the Trump Administration’s widely denounced policy of separating children from their parents at the border. The White House continues to shift blame to everyone else—particularly Congress—for a policy choice that it alone decided to implement and could end at any given time. Adding to the confusion, Nielsen tweeted, “We do not have a policy of separating families at the border,” then later insisted that she was simply enforcing laws on the books that previous administrations did not. At the press conference, she looked outright offended at the insinuation that forcibly removing kids from their parents could amount to child abuse. Perhaps most puzzlingly, she attempted to push back at questions about whether the Administration viewed child separation as a deterrent to border crossing—something both Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Chief of Staff John Kelly have openly conceded. “The children are not being used as a pawn, we are trying to protect the children,” Nielsen said. All four living former First Ladies have spoken out against the family breakups, and a growing list of Democratic lawmakers has called on Nielsen to resign. Over the past seven days, @SecNielsen has a 16 percent positive score on Twitter. –Alex Shultz
Republished from 30dB