Berkeley Prep Grads Condemn Alumnus, Homeland Security Secretary

TAMPA, FL – Alumni of Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa have forwarded a letter to the school’s headmaster, Joseph Seivold, condemning Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for her support of President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance policy on undocumented immigration. The policy has has led to thousands of children being separated from their immigrant parents.

Nielson is a 1990 graduate of the private high school in west Tampa.

On Monday, she appeared on national television to defend the policy after she previously denied that the administration was taking children from their immigrant families.

In her statement, she acknowledged that children were being separated from their parents who have been rounded up and placed in detention campus to await deportation, mostly to Central America and Mexico. However, she said Homeland Security is simply upholding the zero-tolerance mandate approved by Congress.

Shortly after Nielson’s public acknowledgement, 2014 Berkeley Prep graduate and Harvard Law School student Paul Caintic along with fellow 2014 graduate Reuben Siegnan and other Berkeley alumni launched a petition drive condemning Nielson for Homeland Security’s actions and set up a GoFundMe account to help the separated families.

“In under 24 hours, we raised over $6,000 to help immigrant families, and that number keeps growing,” he said.

Additionally, more than 500 alumni and other supporters have signed an open letter to Seivold asking him to join them in their condemnation of Nielson.

“Though we have our bad apples, I’ve never been prouder to be a Berkeley alum,” said Caintic. “Looking at the organizing efforts of my former classmates and fellow alumni, I know now that Berkeley truly puts people in the world that make a positive difference.”

He said that’s the creed of Berkeley Prep ingrained in students while attending the private school.

In the open letter, Caintic and fellow graduates, many of whom attended Berkeley Prep with Nielson from 1986 to 1990, reminded Seivold of that vow.

"The impact of this mission statement is apparent in our alumni, with many of us choosing to fight injustice in our professions — as lawyers, labor organizers, nonprofit professionals, health advocates, and journalists — but for all of us, not a day goes by that we do not consider the impact of our actions, or inactions, upon the world around us," wrote Caintic.

"For this reason, we would be remiss to stay silent now. Today, we respectfully request that you condemn the policies causing the separation of children from their families at the US-Mexico border, implemented and enforced by Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen — known to us as Kirstjen Nielsen, Class of 1990."

Following her graduation from Berkeley Prep, Nielsen, 46, attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., worked in the office of Sen. Connie Mack, R-FL, and then became a member of the White House administration under former President George W. Bush.

With the endorsement of U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson, D-FL, and Marco Rubio, R-FL, she was nominated as secretary of Homeland Security by Trump and confirmed by Congress in December.

Six months into her duties, Nielson is now the focus of much of the criticism of the child separation policy. Both Republican and Democratic leaders in Texas and Florida are calling for her resignation.

On Tuesday, June 19, Nelson and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FL, tried to visit a facility in Homestead where nearly 2,000 children are being housed after being separated from their undocumented immigrant parents.

They were both denied access.

The Homestead center is one of three centers in South Florida where the children of undocumented immigrants are being held.

"They are now embarrassed and don't want us to check on the comfort and welfare of these children," Nelson told reporters outside the facility. "This is absolutely ridiculous, I am ashamed that the administration is doing this."

Wasserman was equally incensed.

"They are trying to cover up and not let the American public see what's really going on here. Are they abusing these kids? Are they sleeping on the floor? Are they in cages like we've seen when video has been shot?" Wasserman Schultz asked. "This is an absolute outrage and we will continue to pressure them and press for this until we are allowed into this and other facilities across the country."

A similar scene is being played out in Texas, said Nora Sandigo, who heads the Nora Sandigo Children Foundation advocating on behalf of the immigrant families.

She said some of the children separated from their mothers are infants who are still breastfeeding.

"It is cruel, it is inhumane and it is evil," Sandigo said. "They are alone; they are suffering so much; they are crying because they do not understand the laws of the country."

The pressure to end the policy appears to be having an impact on Trump. Earlier today, he said he plans to draft an executive order to keep children and parents together. Nielson is reportedly helping to draft that order. There is no word on the scope of that order or when Trump will sign it.

Speaking today at a roundtable meeting with members of Congress, Trump defended the separation policy.

"They're using children as a ticket to get into the country and we have to remember that," Trump said. "It's a very complex issue. They're using these children as passports. It involves human trafficking and drugs."

At the same time, he acknowledged that the policy has impacted innocent families who should not have gotten caught up in the issue.

"But right now we want to fix this problem, and I think we'll be able to do that," he said.

This came as good news to Caintic.

"We were concerned that Kirstjen Nielsen kind of lost her fundamental values instilled at Berkely," he said. "But it sounds like she may be back on track."

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