WASHINGTON House Democrats pressed Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in a tense meeting on Friday over deportation policies, the presidents travel ban and the White Houses response to recent white nationalist remarks by a Republican congressman and they didnt like what they heard.

Multiple Democratic members came out of the meeting exasperated with Kelly.

Pretty damn frustrating that hes not answering questions, Rep. Tony Crdenas (D-Calif.), who walked out midway through, told reporters. Hes just going around in circles.

Kelly was entering the lions den. Democrats are incensed by a number of Kellys actions, as hes the man charged with carrying out some of Trumps most controversial politices. He oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, and signed the memo instructing the agencies to broaden priorities for removal in a way that puts nearly all undocumented immigrants in the crosshairs. He has floated the possibility of separating children from their parents at the border to deter unauthorized crossings. He was tasked with figuring out how to build Trumps border wall. He leads much of the implementation of Trumps two efforts to ban travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries, both now blocked in the courts .

When Democrats pressed Kelly on these topics, they said he at times put the onus back on them: If they dont like the way the law is being enforced, he told them, they should change it, particularly with regard to so-called Dreamers, the young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

He made a similar comment to reporters after the meeting, urging the public to write their representatives if they want the law changed.

Im not the decision-maker in that regard; I follow the law, he told reporters. And by the way, I dont deport anyone. ICE doesnt deport anyone. The law deports people.

Kellys remarks to reporters were at times defensive over how Democrats characterized the meeting, particularly when told that members said they werent satisfied with the information they heard about Dreamers.

The members of Congress that were just with me walked out and said that they didnt get enough information? he said. Youre kidding. ... They may not have heard what they wanted to hear, but we certainly discussed it.

In the room, according to an aide, Kelly said that ICE was not going after recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, created by former President Barack Obama to provide certain Dreamers work permits and deportation reprieve. Multiple DACA recipients have been detained under Kellys watch, although ICE has said that each of them was a priority for another reason, some based on alleged gang affiliation or because their DACA status expired. At that statement, members made sounds of disbelief, according to the aide.

Give me a break, will you? Kelly said in response, according to the aide.

At another point, when asked about DACA, Kelly told them he was not a lawyer, Rep. Nanette Barragn (D-Calif.) said.

Members said they didnt get any clarity on what would happen to DACA, which Trump promised to dismantle on the first day of his presidency but has not done yet. Two members said Kelly made comments about how his leadership has been a good thing for DACA recipients, although they werent sure what he meant. Rep. Luis Gutirrez (D-Ill.) said Kelly suggested he is the best friend that DACA has he repeated that more than once.

He basically said that hes best thing that ever happened to DACA folks in the last few months, Crdenas said.

Kelly didnt tell reporters what would happen to DACA, either, other than to say that his focus would be deporting criminals.

I told them that I have a lot of things on my plate, a lot of criminals to apprehend and deport that are here illegally criminals beyond just the fact that theyre here illegally and the least of my worries right now is anyone who falls into the general category of DACA, Kelly said.

He denied to members that ICE agents were entering churches, schools or hospitals, according to Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.), who said they brought photos and stories that demonstrated that was untrue. She said he provided them lengthy statements with blatant misinformation that he is hearing directly from his personnel.

Torres was also dissatisfied with Kellys response when Democrats asked about his comments about separating children from their mothers He said he has not done it yet but little else, she said.

On Trumps travel ban, aimed at temporarily barring many citizens of six Muslim-majority nations and all refugees from entering the U.S., Kelly said it was not a Muslim ban, according to members. He told reporters DHS was complying with the court rulings temporarily blocking the executive order.

Rep. Ral Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said that he asked Kelly about recent comments made by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), an ally of the president and White House on immigration policy. King drew widespread attention for tweeting that we cant restore our civilization with somebody elses babies. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said this week that Kings statements were not a point of view [the president] shares.

Grijalva told reporters he asked Kelly to repudiate Kings statements because he felt Spicers comments were tepid and many people feel that is really whats going on that there is a removal and cleansing process going on and this was an opportunity to say absolutely not.

Kelly said he did not agree with King, according to members and an aide.

But the entire meeting left some Democrats feeling even more frustrated with the Trump administration than they were before.

Theres always a way to work with an administration, but as long as they see Latinos as criminals, as a threat, as a threat to their civilization, it makes it impossible to sit down, Gutirrez said. First they have to recognize our humanity.