Four Democratic senators say Nielsen should 'absolutely' RESIGN following tense and chaotic White House press conference because she 'lies' for Trump

  • Sens. Jeff Merkley, Mazi Hirono, Kamala Harris, and Tina Smith eached called for Nielsen to go
  • Nielsen held a combative press conference Monday and is the public face of Trump policy of separating parents from their children at the border 
  •  Administration officials who lie 'have sold their souls' said Sen. Hirono of Hawaii

Four Democratic senators are calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to quit after her contentious press conference defending the administration's 'zero tolerance' policy for kids at the border.

Among those calling for Nielsen to go is Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazzie Hirono, who told MSNBC Neilsen and two other Trump aides should resign amid the crisis.   

'All the people around the president who lie for him in order to keep their job, they have sold their souls. I would welcome their registrations,' she said.

She was joined by Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, who said Nielsen should 'absolutely, 100 per cent resign.'

Democrats are calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Democrats are calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Merkley told CNN's 'Erin Burnett Out Front' following Nielsen's performance: ''She's not being honest with Americans and it's so absolutely clear.' 

'She's contradicting her President, she's contradicting her chief of staff, she's contradicting the attorney general and just making up these arguments as she goes,' he added. 

Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat who is a potential presidential candidate, issued a blistering statement. 'The government should be in the business of keeping families together, not tearing them apart,' she said, NBC reported.

Sen. Mazie Hirono is among Democrats  calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Sen. Mazie Hirono is among Democrats calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Kamala Harris is among Democrats  calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Kamala Harris is among Democrats calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

'And the government should have a commitment to transparency and accountability. Under Secretary Nielsen's tenure, the Department of Homeland Security has a track record of neither," Harris said. As a result, she must resign."

Wrote Sen. Tina Smith, who succeeded Al Franken in Minnesota: 'Kirstjen Nielsen has misled the Senate, from the White House podium, and the American people about the Trump Administration’s cruel policy of separating children from their parents at the border.' She sent out an online petition calling for her to step down.

The public pressure, joined by House Democrats, comes after Nielsen held a defiant White House press conference defending the 'zero tolerance' policy that has led to 2,000 kids to be separated from their parents in just the last six weeks. 

She said Democrats were acting 'cowardly' and could change federal immigration law if they wanted to.

Sen. Jeff Merkley is among Democrats  calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Sen. Jeff Merkley is among Democrats calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Sen. Tina Smith is among Democrats  calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

Sen. Tina Smith is among Democrats calling for Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen amid the uproar over immigrant children separated from their parents at the border

She said DHS was just doing its job, comparing the migrants and asylum seekers to criminals who are convicted and jailed in the U.S. system.

'If an American were to commit a crime anywhere in the United States,' she told a room full of reporters, 'they would go to jail and they would be separated from their family.'

Nielsen said, 'This is not a controversial idea.'

When asked by reporters if the policy amounts to 'child abuse', Nielsen denied the accusation. 

'We have high standards. We give them meals and we give them education and we give them medical care. There are videos, there are TVs. I visited the detention centers myself.'

'Parents who entered illegally are by definition criminals,' she told reporters during an early-evening briefing, amid a furor over emotional new audio that features crying children begging to be with their parents.