Kirstjen Nielsen Eats At MXDC Cocina Mexicana Restaurant While Protestors Chant 'Shame'

A day after Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen refused to apologize for separating children from illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexican border, she was dining at MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday when a group of protesters showed up and surrounded her with chants of “Shame! Shame!”

A video of the incident was live streamed on Facebook. While the clip is dark, a stone-faced Nielsen can be seen sitting with her head down, with bodyguards around her protecting her from the yelling activists.

“How can you enjoy a Mexican dinner as you’re deporting and imprisoning tens of thousands of people that come here seeking asylum in the United States?” one person shouted, as others shouted, “Shame!”

Many others yelled statements like, “We call on you to end family separation and abolish Ice,” “If kids don’t eat in peace, you don’t eat in peace," “Kirstjen Nielsen, you’re a villain!” "In a Mexican restaurant, of all places! The f-----g gall" and “How does that make you feel? Do you hear the babies crying?”

According to Vox, police were called at the restaurant but none of the protesters were arrested.

In a separate video, Nielsen is seen leaving the restaurant along with her entourage and driving away. However, it is not clear if the protesters caused Nielsen to leave the restaurant early.

Margaret McLaughlin, a member of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America Steering Committee — the group which staged the protest — issued the following statement on Facebook later: “Secretary Nielsen and everyone else who has carried out these brutal and cold-blooded orders to rip apart families should never be allowed to eat and drink in public again. These barbarous acts must end and those at the helm must be held accountable. While Secretary Nielsen’s dinner may have been ruined, it is nothing compared to the horrors she has inflicted on innocent families.”

Department of Homeland Security press secretary Tyler Q. Houlton offered a different take on the incident on Twitter, stressing on the fact that the encounter was a peaceful one.

Not being able to enjoy a peaceful meal is not the only the concern surrounding Nielsen at the moment. After she defended Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the Monday news briefing, more than 10 Democrats including Sens. Kamala Harris (CA), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Mazie Hirono (HI), Jeff Merkley (OR), and Tina Smith (MN) have called for the resignation of the DHS secretary, Vox reported

Harris — one of the strongest advocates of preserving DACA protections for young undocumented immigrants — was the first Democrat to take a stern stand against Nielsen’s ruthless remarks.

“The government should be in the business of keeping families together, not tearing them apart. And the government should have a commitment to transparency and accountability,” she said in a statement. “Under Secretary Nielsen’s tenure, the Department of Homeland Security has a track record of neither.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA), on the other hand, tweeted: “@SecNielsen must resign. This is not an immigration issue, it is a humanitarian issue. Children are being used by the Trump Admin to create leverage, with a goal of passing Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. I struggle to think of anything more barbaric. #FamiliesBelongTogether”

During the press briefing, Nielsen said: “We have to do our job. We will not apologize for doing our job. This administration has a simple message: If you cross the border illegally, we will prosecute you.”

She also shifted the blame of ongoing policy of separating families at the border on Congress.

“Congress and the courts created this problem, and Congress alone can fix it,” Nielsen said. “Until then, we will enforce every law we have on the books to defend the sovereignty and security of the United States. Those who criticize the enforcement of our laws have offered only one countermeasure: open borders.”