Immigrant rights advocates held onto a sliver of hope late last year that Department of Homeland Security Sec. John Kelly would maybe turn out to be a bit more reasonable than the rest of the deplorables in the administration, but he’s turned out to be just as big of an asshole as the rest of them. Apparently, Sec. Snowflake hasn’t appreciated the blowback he’s gotten from decent Americans in response to the snowflake-in-chief’s ramped-up mass deportation force and failed Muslim bans:
Congressional critics of the Department of Homeland Security should “shut up’’ and assume the agency is acting appropriately and following the law, the agency’s chief said in a combative public speech Tuesday.
“If lawmakers do not like the laws they’ve passed and we are charged to enforce, then they should have the courage and skill to change the laws,’’ Secretary John F. Kelly said. “Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines.’’
Several times in the speech, he took on critics of the agency, following months of complaints from Congress, civil rights groups and protesters that DHS is targeting Muslim travelers for unfair scrutiny.
Kelly’s first days in office have been dominated by the legal and political fights over President Trump’s executive order barring visitors from about a half dozen majority-Muslim countries, and the administration’s effort to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Just this week, nearly 700 religious leaders signed an open letter to Kelly urging him to stop the deportation of Maribel Trujillo, an Ohio mom of four U.S. citizens with no criminal record. Kelly claims Trump’s deportation force is targeting dangerous criminals and “bad hombres,” but when he gets called out on his bullshit, his response is a defensive “shut up” to folks like those nuns. Classy.
It raises another issue: has anyone ever heard of a cabinet secretary telling critics, especially members of Congress, to "shut up"?
It’s worth noting that the members questioning him the loudest have been the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and Sens. Kamala Harris, Mazie Hirono, Catherine Cortez Masto. You get one guess what they all have in common.
If Kelly thinks advocates will indeed “shut up,” he’d better think again. So long as an unshackled ICE is terrorizing and rounding up immigrant families, his critics aren’t quieting down one bit. He’d better get used to it, or put a stop to ICE’s senselessness.