Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon used the backdrop of Ellis Island to deliver a pointed defense of the American Dream, traditional family values, and parents rights during Moms for Libertys Americas 250th celebration.
Speaking at the historic gateway for generations of immigrants, Dhillon framed her own journey as proof of what is still possible in the United States when government power is restrained and individual liberty is protected, according to Gateway Pundit. She began by recalling how the ceremony opened with a moment of patriotic unity. And this is a very special night for me. When I came out, I had a few words I wanted to say, but everyone had their hands over their hearts, and so, you know, I went straight into the pledge, which is something that is so special to me as an immigrant. So I came we didnt come through Ellis Island in 1970, we flew to JFK.
Dhillon described how her parents fled heavy-handed state control abroad for the promise of freedom in America. And, you know, mom and dad dad was a young doctor, and during the Vietnam War, we had a shortage of doctors in America, and so they invited doctors. My dad was an orthopedic surgeon. Mom and Dad left India in the 1970s because it was a Russian client state.
She contrasted that socialist-style system with the liberty they found in the United States, underscoring the dangers of central planning and population dictates. They had a dictated two-children policy and a planned economy, and Mom and Dad didnt want to raise their kids in that kind of an environment. So they came to America and besides life, the greatest gift that mom and dad gave me was bringing me here to America and allowing me to be sworn in as a naturalized American citizen when I was 10 years old, my little brother and my mom in Raleigh, North Carolina. And so, um, my dad was very proud of me.
Dhillon noted that her father lived long enough to see his belief in America vindicated at the highest levels of power. He passed away about 15 months ago. He got to see his daughter become the lawyer for the former and the future president of the United States.
She then highlighted how her family watched her confront partisan hostility in Washington, particularly from the left. My mom and my brother got to sit behind me during my Senate confirmation hearing and see me shoot down a lot of very dumb and obnoxious questions from a number of Democrat senators.
Before joining the Justice Department, Dhillon built a reputation as a defender of ordinary citizens against government overreach and progressive social engineering. Before I took this job and when the President and Pam Bondi called me in November, I had become well known for representing moms and kids and American citizens against the tyranny of the state all over the United States, including my home state of California.
She stressed that her work has focused on protecting children and parental authority from ideological experiments pushed by bureaucrats and activist doctors. And standing up for young girls who the state and the doctors tried to take away their womanhood.
Dhillon also emphasized the right of parents to direct their childrens education, a core concern for Moms for Liberty and many conservatives. And standing up for moms and dads who were being denied the right to control their childrens education by the state.
Now, she said, that same mission has been elevated to a national platform within the Justice Department under President Trumps leadership. And today I get to do that job for the United States. So this is an American success story.
Dhillon closed by tying her personal story to the broader promise of the nation, insisting that America remains worth defending against those who would expand state power at the expense of families and faith. Im very proud to be an American, and Im very grateful to be here with you tonight on Ellis Island, the symbol of all that is great with this country.
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