In other words, these loopholes create a functionally open border, she said, noting that apprehension without detention and removal is not border security.
“We have repeatedly called on Congress to close these loopholes,” Nielsen said.
She said that in the last three months, illegal immigration on southern border exceed 50,000 people each month. Since last year, there has been a 325 per cent increase in unaccompanied alien children and a 435 per cent increase in family units entering the country illegally.
Since 2013, the US has admitted more than half a million illegal immigrant minors and family units from Central America, most of whom today are at large in the US.
Nielsen asserted that the Trump administration did not create a policy of separating families at the border.
“We have a statutory responsibility that we take seriously to protect alien children from human smuggling, trafficking and other criminal actions while enforcing our immigration laws,” she said.
Asserting that there has been a long-existing policy, she said multiple administrations have followed that outline when they may take action to protect children.
“We will separate those who claim to be a parent and child if we cannot determine a familial or custodial relationship exists.
“For example, if there’s no documentation to confirm the claimed relationship between an adult and a child, we do so if the parent is a national security, public or safety risk, including when there are criminal charges at issue and it may not be appropriate to maintain the family in detention together,” Nielsen said.The system also separates a parent and child if the adult is suspected of human trafficking, she explained.
There have been cases where minors have been used and trafficked by unrelated adults in an effort to avoid detention, Nielsen claimed.
“In the last five months, we have a 314 per cent increase in adults and children arriving at the border, fraudulently claiming to be a family unit. This is, obviously, of concern,” she said.
The top Trump administration official said that she has not seen the photos of children in cages.
“The image that I want of this country is an immigration system that secures our borders and upholds our humanitarian ideals. Congress needs to fix it,” Nielsen said.Meanwhile, Congressman Bennie Thompson, Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, in a letter to Nielsen expressed his concern and requested more information regarding US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) recent transfer of 1,600 detainees to five federal prisons due to President Trump’s zero-tolerance policy.
