The policies of the administration of President Barack Obama have to change to stem the tide of illegal immigrants crossing the southern United States border, said Rep. Henry Cuellar.
"I certainly want them to change the policy," the Texas Democrat told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" Wednesday. "If we don't send a message, the numbers are going to increase."
Story continues below video.
Officials from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security should travel to the border to see first hand the effects of the 66,000 children who have crossed into the United States illegally this year, Cuellar said.
It "breaks your heart" to see the children who had entered the U.S. unaccompanied by parents, he said.
Cuellar said over 75 percent of the children were coming to the U.S. from Central America. While the U.S. had protocols for addressing illegal immigrants from Mexico, he said policies needed to be put in place with countries in Central America as well.
"With Mexico, we can do expedited removal. We can go ahead and do the volunteer removals. We can return people pretty quickly. But, with the Central American countries, we don't have the same type of protocols," he said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.