“Most Powerful Women Summit” Should Be No Platform for Officials Who Separated Migrant Families and Put Kids in Cages
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Award-winning filmmaker and author dream hampton is pulling out of Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women Summit” because the magazine has offered a platform to former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who helped execute and defend Trump’s cruel and inhumane child separation immigration policy. Last month, Nielsen canceled a scheduled appearance at The Atlantic Festival after the loud public outcry over her involvement.
“dream hampton did the right thing, and we have little doubt that others will follow her lead. Kirstjen Nielsen does not deserve to have a platform at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit,” said Karl Frisch, senior adviser to Restore Public Trust. “Nielsen helped carry out Trump’s horrific family separation policy. On her watch, children taken from their families were abused and sexually assaulted. Some even died. Fortune should not be giving Nielsen, or others like her, a platform to rehabilitate her appropriately damaged reputation.”
Frisch continued, “The American public made it clear that they did not want to see Nielsen at The Atlantic Festival last month. After helping to put migrant kids in cages during her tenure with the Trump administration, Nielsen’s ability to offer ‘practical advice’ to attendees at this conference is questionable at best.”
In addition, Restore Public Trust is urging allies to #SayNoToNielsen on social media. The Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit is a three-day event that hosts “preeminent women” across a number of industries “for wide-ranging conversations that inspire and deliver practical advice.”
Earlier this month, Trump appointed Nielsen to a role on the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee.
To learn more about the officials who helped plan, execute, and defend Trump’s heinous family separation policy — and why they shouldn’t be given cushy landings after leaving his administration — visit TrumpAdminSeparation.org.
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