Washington, US Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was heckled by activists here while she was eating at a Mexican restaurant as the outcry over Trump administration’s controversial policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the Mexican border mounts.
Nielsen was taunted by a group of demonstrators who chanted “shame!” and noted the irony of her dining at the Mexican restaurant near the White House on Tuesday night, the BBC reported.
Her security detail kept the demonstrators from approaching too near her table at the restaurant. Nielsen, responsible for implementing President Donald Trump’s efforts to axe immigration, could be seen ignoring the protesters and did not appear to respond to them, reports said.
The Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America group claimed responsibility for the protest against her.
“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people that come here seeking asylum in the US?” one person shouted in the video posted by the group.
“If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace,” the demonstrators shouted. They then played an audio clip of Central American children crying after they were separated from their parents at the border.
“How does that make you feel? Do you hear the babies crying?” a demonstrator asked.
“How do you sleep at night? Aren’t you a mother, too?” one of them asked.
Nielsen eventually left the restaurant while accompanied by an entourage and later tweeted: “I will work tirelessly until our broken immigration system is fixed, our borders are secure and families can stay together.”
Trump had earlier praised Nielsen, saying that she “did a fabulous job” defending the policy.
Meanwhile, a group of US lawmakers were on Tuesday denied entry to a detention centre in Homestead, Florida, according to officials.
“This is an absolute outrage,” said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, standing outside the facility.
This is not the first time lawmakers have been turned away from visiting migrant shelters, which now contain nearly 12,000 children, according to government figures.
