Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen delivered a stark warning to Congress Wednesday about the border, saying is it being overrun by migrants and her agencies just don’t have the tools to stop them.
She used words like “humanitarian catastrophe” and “chain of human misery” to describe what she’s seeing — children being “recycled” by human traffickers, about a third of women sexually assaulted on the journey and sicker migrants being dropped in remote areas by the smugglers who control their routes.
“The crisis is real,” Ms. Nielsen said, facing Congress for the first time since Democrats — who have promised to thwart the president’s plans — took control of the House.
Democrats said she was lying about the nature of the emergency she described.
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi said Ms. Nielsen was “complicit in this administration’s misinformation campaign.”
“Real border security cannot be achieved by building a wall on the southern border, blocking asylum seekers, or separating children from their parents,” Mr. Thompson said. “These things are simplistic solutions that may have political appeal for some but offer little security value, if any.”
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The hearing came as new border numbers show illegal immigration across the southwest border at its highest levels since 2007 — the last time the government engaged in a massive wall-building campaign.
Ms. Nielsen said they are anticipating nearly 1 million illegal immigrants caught at the border in fiscal year 2019.
“These increases will overwhelm the system entirely. This is not a manufactured crisis, this is truly an emergency,” she said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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