Lawmakers slam Trump's Homeland Security chief over focus on immigrant caravan, border wall

[DonViejo]

Source: CNN



By Tal Kopan, CNN

Updated 7:05 AM ET, Sat April 28, 2018

Washington (CNN) - The secretary of homeland security faced sharp questioning about agency priorities from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday, with many expressing deep concerns about whether the Trump administration is properly promoting Americans' safety.

Democrats in particular questioned Kirstjen Nielsen about the administration's prioritization of immigration enforcement and the building of a border wall while also seeking to cut funding for state and local governments to prepare for and respond to security threats.

"Tell us how cutting this kind of funding helps America be safer," demanded Rep. Bill Keating, D-Massachusetts.

The top Democrat on the committee, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, had sharp words for Nielsen in his opening remarks, accusing the department of intentionally attacking non-dangerous immigrants as a distraction.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/26/politics/caravan-border-wall-kirstjen-nielsen-hearing/index.html

[barbtries]

1. this is not America.

people running for their lives and we turn them back? tearing families apart even when their immigration woes are not even their fault? trump may as well send the statue of liberty back to France.

[pangaia]

5. He doesn't know where it was made.

I would bet he would sent it to England.

[paleotn]

2. Simple, really..

Brown people looking for work and a better life....bad....must have scary, easily marginalized scapegoats. Domestic and international terrorist attacks....good politically for this admin.

Sorry to break it to you, Kirstjen, but women don't get to be "commanders", just objects. Or haven't you been keeping up with our real world version of The Handmaid's Tale?

[Mc Mike]

3. Kierstjen did a bang up job with Katrina. Perfect for Homeland Security.

Thanks, dRumpfie.

[elleng]

4. 'New York Republican Reps. Peter King and Dan Donovan also raised concerns about the cuts.

"I would just again ask you to reconsider and look at how that money is being distributed and why we have cuts at a time like this when, again, in many ways the threats are more than they were before 9/11," King said.

Chairman Mike McCaul, of Texas, also made a reference in his opening statements to cuts to first responder grants, calling them "a major step backwards."'