OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:32 AM PT — Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is defending President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.
While speaking before the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday, Nielsen said the situation at the border is “not a manufactured crisis.” She argued that “no rational person would design an immigration system” like the one America has today.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, before the House Homeland Security Committee. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Nielsen also noted that the number of apprehensions at the border jumped substantially late last year.
“Since late last year, we have been seeing 50 to 60,000 migrants arrive at our southern border each month, but in February we saw a 30-percent jump over the previous month with agents apprehending or encountering nearly 75,000 aliens,” she explained. “This is an 80-percent increase over the same time last year, and I can report today that CBP (Customs and Border Protection) is forecasting the problem will get even worse this spring as the weather warms up.”
This is Neilsen’s first congressional appearance since Democrats took control of the House.