US border crisis: Acting DHS head Kevin McAleenan spars with senators

Washington CNN — Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan on Tuesday defended the Trump administration’s actions on the southern border, saying it’s now on Congress to fix the problem, while Democrats grilled him on tariff negotiations with Mexico and the state of children separated from their families. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham said the breaking point “has long passed” and warned that without resources “there will come a point to where we’ll have complete, absolute failure to control, our border, and we are getting there daily.” Graham also acknowledged that a border wall “will not fix this problem.” “The only way a wall would fix this problem is to build it in Mexico, so they never step foot in the United States,” he said. “It happens only for the safety and welfare of the child, when we have a concern about abuse or neglect or there is a communicable disease, an emergency medical issue, or a serious criminal prosecution unrelated to the unlawful border crossing.” Pressed by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, McAleenan could not give a total number of the families separated since June 20 – when Trump signed an executive order reversing the policy that resulted in systematic family separation – but said it was about 0.36% of families crossing in the past year, and added that about 1,500 to 3,500 families crossed on average last year. RELATED: HHS to open new housing for unaccompanied minors amid record migrant surge McAleenan says he’s not been asked to do anything illegal After Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota referenced a CNN report that said Trump offered to pardon McAleenan if he was convicted of having border agents block asylum seekers from entering the US, McAleenan said he has not been asked by the White House to break the law. “I’ve never been asked to do anything unlawful nor would I.” Video Ad Feedback Fmr Ambassador: 'Mexico is Trump's Piñata' 16:08 - Source: CNN DHS is investigating CBP data breach McAleenan said his agency is “investigating aggressively” after a data breach of a Customs and Border Protection contractor that handled sensitive traveler data from along the northern border, but called it “not a widespread issue.” “We’re talking about a few lanes at a single port of entry, a test for about a month for a month and a half.