Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen did well in her job, but members of Congress did not listen to her when she appeared to offer testimony at hearings, so perhaps change will prove positive, Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, said Monday.
"It has been very difficult for Sec. Nielsen to come to Congress and talk to Congress," Burgess told Fox News' "Fox & Friends." "She eloquently lays out the things that need to be changed . . . but unfortunately, when she gets into those congressional hearings, no one is listening to her. They are talking past each other on childhood separations."
Meanwhile, Burgess said he is reintroducing a bill he had initially introduced in 2014 in hopes of recouping some of the costs of keeping immigrant children in custody.
"Deduct that amount of money from the foreign aid that's going back to the host country or the originating country," Burgess said. "So, the calculation (in 2014) was $15,000. I have actually increased that to $30,000 per child because the length of stay has increased, and it's costing a lot more to take care of these kids in shelters."
There are 14,000 to 15,000 children in shelters at this point, and taxpayers are footing the bill, said Burgess.
"It makes no sense then to ask the taxpayers to send money back to the home country in foreign aid," Burgess said. "Those countries need to step up. They need to do the job. There are things only they can do on the ground that would mitigate this process and cause it to reverse."