Report: DHS Nominee Nielsen ‘Reduced’ President Trump’s Leverage on Immigration

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security has reduced his ability to push a pro-American immigration reform agenda, according to a report in the Axios news site.

Axios reporter Jonathan Swan notes:

Roy Beck, an influential immigration hawk who runs NumbersUSA, said Trump’s nominee for DHS Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, further reduced the administration’s leverage last week when she assured in her confirmation hearing she would protect DACA recipients. “This doesn’t strike me as being from the art of negotiations book, does it?” Beck told me.

In her confirmation hearing last week, Nielsen confirmed her pro-amnesty, mass immigration views by saying that it is the United States’ responsibility to legalize DACA illegal aliens.

“I believe that we must and we owe it to them to find a permanent solution,” she said of passing a DACA amnesty that could potentially lead to a chain migration of 9.9 million to 19 million foreign nationals pouring into the U.S. legally. “It’s no way to expect anyone to live a month or two months at a time,” said Nielsen, even though the DACA work-permits each last for two years.

At the same hearing, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) pushed Nielsen to allow more illegals to enroll in the program, even though Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DACA program’s award of residency and work permits to nearly 800,000 beneficiaries would expire in March 2018. AG Sessions also ended further enrollment in the program, which was widely expected to be struck down by the federal courts.

Harris’ and Nielsen’s exchange went as follows:

HARRIS: Thank you. At a September 27th hearing, I asked [DHS] Acting-Secretary [Elaine] Duke to extend the October 5th renewal deadline for DACA recipients. It did not happen. It has been reported that roughly 21,000 recipients were not able to gather the documentation, and the $495 that was required as part of the filing, before the deadline. If confirmed, will you reopen the application process and allow these individuals the opportunity to renew their status?

NIELSEN: I would commit to you to look into it. I’m not familiar with the specific numbers, but if there are extenuating circumstances that we should take into consideration, I would look into those and talk with you further. [Emphasis added]

HARRIS: I would urge you that part of the extenuating circumstances that should be taken into account is a national survey that found 57 percent of Americans say that right now they do not have the ability to pay $500 of an unexpected bill. Additionally, there have been a number of natural disasters around the country, including my own home state, where Americans have lost their entire belongings, their paperwork, and they are barely getting through the day, much less have the ability to compile extensive documentation and come up with $495.

And I would urge you to prioritize that fact when you think of the extenuating circumstances.

NIELSEN: Yes, ma’am.

Since Breitbart News’ reporting on Nielsen’s concessions to amnesty and reopening DACA, two clear violations of Trump’s 70-point list of pro-American immigration principles, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has called on the DHS nominee to disqualify herself from the position.

“Based upon the information in this article, Kirstjen Nielsen has disqualified herself from leading the Department of Homeland Security,” King wrote on Twitter, Breitbart News reported. “Pro-Amnesty is anti Rule of Law.”

Based upon the information in this article, Kirstjen Nielsen has disqualified herself from leading the Department of Homeland Security. Pro-Amnesty is anti Rule of Law. https://t.co/Sw5hVomif9

— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) November 10, 2017

As Breitbart News reported, Nielsen’s nomination to head DHS has been praised by the cheap foreign labor lobby, open borders advocates, and the Washington, DC national security establishment – which allied itself with the failed “Never Trump” movement during the 2016 presidential election.

In a pre-hearing questionnaire obtained by Breitbart News, Nielsen explained how she would be “ready to work with Congress” on a plan to give amnesty to the nearly 800,000 DACA illegal aliens in the U.S.

Likewise, Nielsen chaired a committee at the World Economic Forum that promoted mass immigration to Europe and the U.S., claiming Western nations did not have a choice and needed to accept millions of migrants. That report, as Breitbart News reported, was co-authored by executives from multinational corporations and world banks.