About two dozen protesters on Friday assembled at the Virginia residence of Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen, chanting, waving signs and playing the recording of detained migrant children wailing and crying “Mami” and “Papá.”
“Protesters are blasting the audio of refugee children crying for their parents outside of Kirstjen Nielsen’s residence. She is inside,” tweeted liberal activist Scott Dworkin, along with a video of the demonstration on which the recording, obtained by ProPublica, can be heard.
Nielsen was seen leaving through the back door of the Alexandria home as the hour-long protest wound down around 8:30 a.m., the Washington Post reported.
Later, protesters gathered outside the White House and played the recording.
And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) played the recording on the House floor — but was gaveled out of order by Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.), who had the chair.
“Why are we hiding this from the American people?” Lieu responded.
At least 2,500 immigrant children have been separated from their families at the border and shipped to detention centers — a policy Nielsen forcefully supported before President Trump’s dramatic about-face this week amid massive condemnation.
She was heckled by protesters on Tuesday at a Mexican restaurant two blocks from the White House.
The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.