WASHINGTON — Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, on Wednesday implored Congress to confront what she called a “humanitarian catastrophe” on the southern border by supporting President Trump’s call for a border wall and changing laws to crack down on asylum-seekers and illegal border-crossers. In her first congressional appearance since Democrats took control of the House, Ms. Nielsen was defiant in the face of criticism of the administration for its treatment of migrant families at the border, especially its decision last summer to separate children from their parents. “Our capacity is already severely strained, but these increases will overwhelm the system entirely,” Ms. Nielsen told members of the House Homeland Security Committee. “This is not a manufactured crisis. This is truly an emergency.”Democrats demanded that Ms. Nielsen address the chaos that followed the family separation decision, the deaths of migrant children in federal custody and Mr. Trump’s claim of a national emergency at the border that he has said requires construction of a border wall.

Source: New York Times March 06, 2019 13:52 UTC