EL PASO, Texas (KERO) — A migrant crisis is growing on the U.S. border with Mexico. Sources told ABC News that more than 4,000 children are in custody after a 25 percent surge in border crossings by unaccompanied minors.
Local Congressman and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy visited el Paso Monday saying President Joe Biden and his rollback of Trump-era policies on immigration are to blame while the White House said it's a crisis that's been inherited from the Trump administration.
"The security of our nation and our border is first and foremost the responsibility of our president. This is human heartbreak," said McCarthy.
"The last administration left us a dismantled and unworkable system and like any other problem we are going to do anything we can to solve it," said White House spokesperson Jen Psaki.
Also, Monday Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar from El Paso said the crossings began last year under the Trump Administration and that she tried to reach out to McCarthy previously and give him a tour of the El Paso and Mexico border.
"Unfortunately, not only did minority leader McCarthy not take up my offer to get a full picture of what's happening on the border, he obviously only wanted a very narrow perspective. He and even my colleagues used language that I feel is very dangerous and unfortunate," said Escobar.
Escobar said she sent McCarthy a letter asking him to allow her to show him and republicans around el Paso and the ports of entry. She said there's is a lot of work that needs to be done on immigration and she is working on new legislation that will hopefully help.
