Congressional Republicans have been touring the border in South Texas this week, saying facilities are overcrowded. They say a migrant holding facility in Donna, near McAllen, was set up to house 250 people; Monday evening, they say 5,700 were staying there.
"If you could see the situation these kids are living in today, it would make you cry," says Beth Van Duyne, who represents the 24th Congressional District, covering parts of Irving, Grapevine, Carrollton and the Mid Cities.
Van Duyne, previously mayor of Irving, says the crime rate there dropped because she was working more closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"What we found is when we actually deported criminal illegal aliens from your city, your crime rate drops," she says. "We had the lowest crime rate in our city's history."
"This situation is not new," says Michael Burgess, 26th District representative, covering most of Denton County and parts of northern Tarrant County. "What's new is how bad it has gotten and how fast it has gotten this bad."
The U.S. Border Patrol says about 150,000 people have been stopped this month, an increase of 350% from last year.
Congressional Republicans say the Biden Administration should instead focus on fighting cartels.
"There is nothing compassionate about luring people hundreds, thousands of miles, dealing with drug cartels, dealing with all of the horrors coming up here," says Louie Gohmert, who represents the 1st Congressional District in East Texas. "They are scared to death. What would be compassionate is to let them stay in their homes without a drug cartel to corrupt Mexico."
Tuesday afternoon, Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, named to lead the effort to contain the surge of migrants.
"Now that President Biden has named you Border Czar in charge of the administration’s response, I want to express to you the threats and challenges caused by this administration’s open border policies," Abbott wrote.
He included a list of questions he wants Harris to answer, writing, "Americans deserve to know what the administration is doing to get answers to these questions and to go after human traffickers":
-Who is assisting these children as they travel through Mexico and cross the U.S. border?
-U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas has acknowledged that many of these children have been abused or harmed during their journeys. What is the administration doing to eliminate that harm?-Were these children forced to carry contraband into the United States?
-Were these children or their families assisted, coerced, and threatened by cartel members or human traffickers?
-The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has vaguely suggested that these children are screened by appropriately trained personnel to identify potential victims of abuse, assault, and trafficking, but has provided no further information. What screening is being done? When is that screening taking place and by whom? Are these children being provided a thorough medical screening that may separately identify abuse and assault?
-How many victims of physical abuse, sexual assault, or trafficking has the administration identified?
-Is the federal government using DNA tests to confirm familial relations? How else is the administration ensuring that these children are being released to safe, trustworthy adults?
-What specific measures can the administration point to that confirm that these children are not released to human traffickers in the United States?
-What action is your administration taking to prosecute those who traffic unaccompanied minors?