Is John Kelly 'Unfit' (or Sadly Suited) to Lead Homeland Security Under Trump?

January 10, 2017
Common Dreams

...Pointing to the human rights abuses that occurred on his watch, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which has led the legal battle against Guantánamo and represents a number of its detainees, said Kelly's "aggressive oversight of the illegal military prison...disqualifies him" from leading DHS. 

"Presiding over a population of detainees not charged or convicted of crimes, over whom he had maximum custodial control, Kelly treated them with brutality," CCR said. "His response to the detainees' peaceful hunger strike in 2013 was punitive force-feeding, solitary confinement, and rubber bullets. Furthermore, he sabotaged efforts by the Obama administration to resettle detainees, consistently undermining the will of his commander in chief."

"His temperament and actions make him unfit to lead an agency that currently holds tens of thousands of immigrants, including many fleeing violence and many in long-term indefinite detention," the group states. ...

Read the full piece here.

Last modified 

January 11, 2017