Rep. Adriano Espaillat says the U.S. needs to do a better job of connecting migrant children detained at the southern border with their families in the nation.
Espaillat was part of a Congressional delegation that visited an immigration detention facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas earlier this week, as the number of migrant children surge at the border.
The facility they visited houses more than 750 unaccompanied migrant children currently in the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
During an appearance on Inside City Hall, Espaillat said that while conditions at the facility were better than his last trip to a detention center, the staggering numbers are troubling.
"The bureaucracy has to be broken down so that we can connect them quicker with their families," Espaillat said. "But certainly it's not the inhumane atmosphere, the very toxic, punitive atmosphere that was there during the Trump administration."
Espaillat said there were medical, legal, mental health and classroom services, along with sports programs at the facility.
On Thursday, President Biden pushed back against suggestions that his administration's immigration policies are responsible for the rising numbers.
He vowed the administration will take steps to quickly move hundreds of migrant children and teenagers out of cramped detention facilities.