"Given the scale of what we are facing, we will exhaust our resources before the end of this fiscal year," McAleenan said on Tuesday morning, as he promised an extra request for money later this week, which will cover more than just work at the Department of Homeland Security.
"Our partners at the Department of Health and Human Services are also on the brink of running out of resources," he added, referring to the work done by HHS to hold and take care of unaccompanied immigrant children.
No money figure was offered by McAleenan during his testimony, as he also made reference to an ongoing effort by the Trump White House to produce a separate legislative package of proposed changes to U.S. immigration laws.
'The second request will be the administration's legislative proposal - which will be sent to the Congress shortly - to address to the key drivers of the humanitarian crisis," McAleenan added, noting a desire to speed up deportations.
In his testimony, McAleenan, who recently took over for Kirstjen Nielsen at DHS, said a breaking point had been reached at the border, especially in the sector around El Paso, Texas.
McAleenan said in March, over 100,000 migrants were apprehended, 'the most in one month for over a decade.'
On April 16, we had almost 5,000 people cross the border without authorization in a single day," the acting DHS chief added.
The supplemental funding DHS request will provide funds for Customs and Border Protection to set up temporary processing facilities at the southern border to ensure that officers are processing migrants "accurately, efficiently and quickly", according to Acting Secr McAleenan.
— Patrick B. Pexton (@PextonPB) April 30, 2019
DHS says it will run out of funding before the end of the year due to the high number of people showing up at the SW border. The department will submit a supplemental appropriation request soon, Acting Secretary McAleenan said today.
— Holly Kellum (@HollyGailK) April 30, 2019
“Congress has to fix these horrible immigration laws,” President Trump said at a campaign rally last Saturday night in Wisconsin.
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