Nielsen Email to DHS Staff

Message from Secretary Nielsen on Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation 6/22/2018 As many of you are aware, we are in the midst of an illegal immigration crisis on our southern border that has been fueled by a decades-long failure to fully enforce our nation's immigration laws. While DHS — and the full administration — has worked to ensure no one is exempt from the consequences of violating our laws, there has been significant misinformation about our efforts. I want to give you the facts, and also thank all of you who have continued to work diligently and professionally in this environment. This week, President Trump signed the Executive Order Affording Congress an Opportunity to Address Family Separation. This Executive Order will permit alien families who have crossed our border illegally to remain together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources. It also directs the Attorney General to appeal the Flores v. Reno decision with the federal courts to reopen its ruling that prevents us from detaining minors with parents. This is the court ruling that has limited the department's ability to keep families together while adults are held accountable for illegally crossing our borders. While this Executive Order will allow illegal alien families to remain together for a certain period without compromising border security, it will not solve the problem permanently. Congress must change the law to provide a lasting solution to family separation. As DHS employees know all too well, our laws also continue to be exploited by sex traffickers and human smugglers who take advantage of children to gain illegal entry into our country. To fix our broken immigration system, we are asking Congress to address at a minimum three major loopholes: • First, we need to amend the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. This well-intentioned law results in unintentional consequences. Instead of protecting children from dangerous traffickers, this law encourages families to put their children in the hands of smugglers on a dangerous trek northward. • Second, we need to reform our asylum laws to end the systemic abuse of our asylum system. Currently our asylum system fails to assist those who legitimately need it and is overrun with fraud. We are a country of compassion — a country of heart. We must fix the system so that those who truly need asylum can, in fact, receive it. • Third, we need to amend the Flores Settlement Agreement which would allow for family detention during the removal process — and we need Congress to fund our ability to hold families together through the immigration process. With these legislative changes, we can secure our borders and uphold our humanitarian ideals. These two missions should not be pitted against each other. We can accomplish both.

Our mission at DHS has always been difficult. None of us signed up for the easy jobs — we wanted to solve the big problems that face this country. It is our responsibility to keep Americans safe, to protect the homeland. Now more than ever we must rededicate ourselves to that mission and not be distracted by the noise. I cannot tell you how proud I am of the work you all have done — and do every day — to defend this nation. I will continue to correct the record and stand up for the department. But in the meantime, you should know that I have your back as you do your jobs. We are all disappointed by the tenor of today's public discourse, but you should keep your heads high and your efforts focused on the missions that brought us all into this department in the first place. I will also continue to work diligently with Congress to close loopholes, secure our borders, and keep families together and will be sure to keep DHS employees informed as progress is made. Thank you for your steadfast support of the DHS mission and for your remarkable efforts to keep our nation safe and secure. Best regards, Kirstjen M Nielsen Secretary of Homeland Security With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values.