Nielsen tells Congress border crisis is real

WASHINGTON (AP) – Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says the crisis at the southern border is not manufactured.

Nielsen is speaking before the House Homeland Security Committee on border security. She says border agencies are on track to apprehend nearly 1 million people crossing illegally this year at the southern border. Those are levels not seen since the early 2000s.

Last month, there were 76,000 migrants apprehended; most were families from Central America. Many seek asylum and are released into the country to wait out their immigration cases, which can take years.

Nielsen says “no rational person” would design an immigration system like the U.S. has today.

She is expected to face tough questioning from Democrats who have recently taken control of the House.