Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has been out of a job less than 24 hours, but leftist, pro-immigration groups are already moving to make sure she never finds gainful employment ever again.
Over the weekend, a group calling itself “Restore Public Trust” issued an open letter to corporations across the country and took out a full-page ad in The New York Times begging companies who might hire former Trump administration officials to reconsider, particularly if those officials were involved in formulating or carrying out the administration’s “family separation” policy.
We’re carrying a simple message in today’s @nytimes:
Corporate America should not allow administration officials responsible for Trump’s family separation policy to seek refuge in their corner offices or boardrooms.#FamiliesBelongTogetherhttps://t.co/J0CZcUpklk pic.twitter.com/KMveqNPb52
— Restore Public Trust (@RestoreTrustOrg) April 7, 2019
In their letter, the group warned that fired and resigned officials might try to “seek refuge in their corner offices or boardrooms,” and that any company that hires them for administrative roles, should know they’ll be subject to boycotts and “oversight.”
“We call on you to make it clear that you will not hire for employment, contract for consulting, or seat on your boards, anyone involved in the development or implementation of the Trump administration’s family separation immigration policy,” Restore Public Trust says in its statement. “Furthermore, you should make it clear to the lobbying shops and consulting firms you hire and the think tanks, political committees, and candidates you fund — that you will not work with or support them if they hire these individuals.”
“There are some lines that simply cannot be crossed,” the letter concludes.
Along with the letter, Restore Public Trust issued a list of administration officials they feel don’t deserve to work in the private sector. That list includes now former-DHS Secretary Nielsen.
The group claims to be “non-partisan,” but the letter is co-signed by a number of far-left organizations including the Democratic opposition research outlet, American Bridge, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has recently become embroiled in sexism and racism scandals of its own.
Restore Public Trust itself told the Daily Beast at its inception that it is an organization made up of “top Democratic operatives and open-government activists” who have dedicated themselves “to make[ing] life miserable for Trump Cabinet officials” by “unearth[ing] and publiciz[ing] instances of corruption—or ethically dubious behavior—by members of the president’s team who [thus far] have largely avoided public scrutiny.”
Unsurprisingly, it is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) that also funds the far left “watchdog” website Media Matters and the uber-progressive action group, Center for American Progress.
Nielsen probably has little to worry about, however. Restore Public Trust does not have a track record of much success, aside from paying for ads in mainstream newspapers.
It’s also not clear Restore Public Trust seems willing to execute their plan consistently; although the family separation policy came to light under President Donald Trump, the policy itself is a product of Obama administration-era border control. Many of the incendiary photos used to indict Trump’s policy dated back to the late 2000s, when the Obama White House was struggling, also, to contend with a court decision that would not allow full illegal immigrant families to be kept in detention together for more than a few weeks.
Nielsen resigned (or was forced to resign), reportedly, in part, because she was unable to formulate a coherent policy that would allow the Trump administration to challenge or skirt the same Flores decision.