Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen sent a letter to Congress on Thursday requesting “immediate assistance” and “emergency resources.”
“To cope with the overall volume of arriving migrants, a resource surge is needed throughout the system to ensure efficient throughput and proper care,” Nielsen wrote. “DHS requests immediate assistance from Congress, including emergency resources and specific authorities to cope with the escalating situation.”
She said in the letter that late last year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was apprehending 50,000 to 60,000 migrants a month.
{mosads}”Last month, we apprehended or encountered more than 75,000, the highest in over a decade. And this month, we are on track to interdict nearly 100,000 migrants,” she said.
She also said that the high numbers of families and unaccompanied minors are difficult to care for.
“Now we face a system-wide meltdown. DHS facilities are overflowing, agents and officers are stretched too thin, and the magnitude of arriving and detained aliens has increased the risk of life-threatening incidents,” she said, adding that her “greatest concern is for the children, who are put at high risk by this emergency.”
Nielsen said in the letter that DHS will need “at least hundreds of additional personnel” to keep up with the flow.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters on Wednesday that the immigration system has reached a “breaking point.”