Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen tried to have dinner in a Washington, D.C. Mexican restaurant Tuesday night. It didn’t go well for her.
Several people recognized the anti-immigrant Cabinet official and began filming. Quickly their numbers grew and in the middle of the restaurant they started shouting at her, asking how dare she appear in public when “over 10,000” migrant children whose parents have been arrested and detained are currently being housed by the federal government in internment camps.
“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting tens of thousands of people seeking asylum in the United States?”
“Abolish ICE,” they shouted, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Nielsen on Monday afternoon told White House reporters that the administration has not created a policy to rip children away from their parents. Instead, she echoed the president’s lie, that they are following the law an have no choice. That is false.
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” they chanted. “If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace!” they repeatedly shouted, then adding, “Not in DC, not in the US!”
One woman can be heard exclaiming, “In a Mexican restaurant, of all places! Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is in a Mexican restaurant of all places – the fucking gall!”
The protestors then continued the “shame!” chant, then moved on to, “No human being is illegal!”
Secretary Nielsen can be seen doing with a man, her head lowered as she tries to appear unaffected by the protestors while also trying to not appear in the camera frame.
They continued shouting, “How many more kids are you going to lock up?” and, “How do you sleep at night?” and, “End Texas concentration camps!”
Then one of the protestors addresses the restaurant patrons.
“Kirstjen Nielsen will want you to think that we are ruining your dinner. She is the Secretary of DHS. ICE rips children apart from their families every day. They lock them up in cages. They sleep under those silver blankets you guys get at marathons. These kids will never be reunited with their parents, because Kirstjen Nielsen’s staff doesn’t think it’s necessary to make a plan to reunite them with their parents.”
The protest ended with, “Kirstjen Nielsen you’re a villain,” which, to their credit, they were able to make rhyme.
UPDATE:
The protestors appear to be part of the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America. They posted the full, unedited video to Facebook, and say the restaurant name is MXDC.