We have zero tolerance for DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's lack of integrity and compassion for immigrant families. Nielsen needs to be held accountable for separating families and enforcing inhumane laws.
Between October 1, 2017, and May 31, 2018, at least 2,700 children have been split from their parents. 1,995 of them were separated over the last six weeks of that window — April 18 to May 31 — indicating that at present, an average of 45 children are being taken from their parents each day.
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and the U.S. must be held accountable for this violence against migrants. Migrants who cross the hot southern desert into the U.S. are seeking safety and security away from gangs and drug cartels. There are direct connections between the war on drugs and terrorism and migration enforcement; all of these connections increase violence against migrants. The U.S. government has prosecuted undocumented immigrants as criminals, justifying this policy as an anti-terrorism strategy.
The mass criminalization of families crossing the U.S./Mexico border results in military-style enforcement, incarceration, deportation, discrimination, and military-type privatization of the border. It degrades all life along the border: animal, plant and human life. The UN says the use of detention and family separation runs counter to human rights standards and principles.
We have zero tolerance for DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen increasing violence against immigrant families. We call on her to resign.
