Congressional demands of DHS make Nielsen 'really fear for our democracy'

By CAITLIN OPRYSKO 03/14/2019 09:11 AM EDT

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Tuesday that Congressional opposition to her department's border security measures makes her "fear for our democracy," insisting that members of Congress focus on changing the law instead of asking DHS to change how it is enforced.

“You know, I said it before, but I really fear for our democracy when the body who creates the laws is telling the body who enforces the law just don't enforce the law,” Nielsen said in an interview with Fox News. “If they don't like the law they should change it, but the men and women at the Department of Homeland Security have sworn an oath to protect communities to secure the homeland and to enforce the law that Congress passed.”

The Department of Homeland Security has come under heavy criticism in recent months over its implementation of President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies, most notably including the separation of children from their parents who brought them illegally into the U.S.

Trump, backed up by Nielsen and others at DHS, has insisted that there is a humanitarian and national security crisis at the nation's southern border, prompting him to declare a national emergency to secure funding for his long-promised border wall without appropriations from Congress. A resolution rolling back that declaration has already passed the House and is poised to pass the Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support. Trump has threatened to veto the measure.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/14/nielsen-homeland-security-congress-1221224