She denied accounts that the policy amounted to "child abuse" or was comparable to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two.
She was especially offended by the following exchange.
"Are you intending for parents to be separated from their children?" one reporter asked. "Are you intending to send a message?"
"I find that offensive," Nielsen shot back. "Why would I ever create a policy that purposely does that?"
At an earlier event Monday, Nielsen said the White House would not apologize for the policy.
"To a select few in the media, Congress and the advocacy community, I'd like to start with a message for you," she said. "This Department will not longer stand by and watch you attack law enforcement for enforcing the laws passed by Congress. We will not apologize for the job we do."
If Congress closes the loopholes that allows adult migrants to take advantage of the undocumented children's policy, then the families will be able to stay together throughout the proceedings, she agreed at the briefing.
That was the message from White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders too, who followed Nielsen to the podium. The president, she said, is trying to work with Congress to find a solution.
If you walk into a bank with your minor daughter, hold it up (break the law), and are subsequently arrested, you go to jail. Your daughter goes to an Office of Children and Family Services, not jail. What about this process does the media and this petulant WH press corps not understand ?