“I think the demonization of immigrants in this speech today was as disappointing as it was frightening and the thing that bothered me is it’s a multifaceted approach that we need to attack the immigration problem, and it’s been an issue over multiple presidents,” said Nagela Nukuna, who worked for the U.S. Digital Service, which was transformed into DOGE.
Nukuna was working on technology to help reduce the backlog of people waiting in the U.S. immigration system. “It’s really unclear why the Department of Government of so-called Efficiency would try and get rid of a group that is moving forward efficient practices and really seeing the savings of their work,” she said ahead of the speech.
Jesus Murillo was a presidential management fellow at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He said that he is passionate about public service and it was a “slap in the face” to get fired.
Alex Taylor, who worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, suggested he was discouraged by Trump’s speech because the president spoke about wanting rare earth minerals in Ukraine when his job in the federal government was addressing exactly that issue in the U.S.
“I supported active research projects on identifying sources of critical minerals in the U.S.,” he said. “It bothers me that he’s more interested in engaging in Neo-Colonialism to get minerals from other countries, rather than supporting the scientists and the researchers who are aiding the minerals industry here in America.”
