DHS chief asserts family reunifications on track

The chief of the Homeland Security Department has told members of Congress that the government is “on track” to meet Thursday’s court-ordered deadline of reuniting hundreds of migrant children with their families, lawmakers who met privately with her said.Wednesday’s assertion by Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was greeted with open disbelief and anger, according to many of the roughly 20 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus — all Democrats — who attended.

“She said they believe they’re on track” to meet the deadline, said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., one of several lawmakers who said she used that phrase to describe the status of reuniting separated families. They said she provided no statistics to back up her assertion.

“That’s impossible. And we all said this to her,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said in a brief interview that he told Nielsen “she is committing crimes against humanity, that she is a child abuser” and that she is “an accomplice of Donald Trump’s racist regime.”