Latest on the crisis at the US border

White House press secretary Jen Psaki continued the administration’s messaging that migrants should not attempt to come to the US right now as the southern border sees a surge in migrants, specifically unaccompanied children. 

Psaki pushed back on a reporter’s question as to whether the US might be, intentionally or otherwise, incentivizing parents to send their unaccompanied children to the United States, echoing the president’s warning to would be migrants. 

She added that every administration official that speaks about the situation at the border is urging people not to come to the US right now, specifically mentioning Department of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who testified on Capitol Hill today about the surge in migrants. 

"The border is secure and the border is not open," Mayorkas said.

Psaki, again declining to call the border situation a crisis, said it is “no doubt a complicated circumstance,” but the administration is trying to “address this in an effective and humane manner.”

She said that the President hopes to work with Congress to address the root causes of migration, because if those root causes are not addressed, cycles of surges in migrants could continue. 

Earlier in the briefing, Psaki said that the administration has no plans on putting a cap on the number of unaccompanied minors allowed into the US.

“We're not going to send a 10 year old back across the border. That was the policy of the last administration, that's not our policy here,” she said.

In an exchange Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki dismissed reports the White House was blocking press access to migrant facilities at the border.

She told reporters in the Briefing Room, “we remain committed to sharing with all of you, data on the number of kids crossing the border, the steps we're taking, the work we're doing to open up facilities, our own bar we're setting for ourselves on improving and expediting the timeline and the, the treatment of these children.”

Still, Psaki said, “I don't have an update for you on the timeline for access, but it's certainly something we support.”

Pressed on if the White House has ordered border agents not to allow reporters on ride alongs, as they had in the Trump administration, Psaki dodged, telling reporters, “It's coordinated through the Department of Homeland Security and I point you to them for any additional questions about the logistics of press access.”  

The White House has not allowed press access to facilities used to house migrants, despite repeated requests, citing privacy concerns and the ongoing pandemic.

“Again, we fully support transparency,” Psaki told reporters in a follow up, “and I would encourage you to talk to the Department of Homeland Security about any requests you have for press access or what you're looking to accomplish at the border.”

As the situation at the border continues to develop, back in Washington, House Democrats are looking to move forward with legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a key pillar of President Biden's immigration plan.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced on a press call Tuesday that the House will officially be taking up two immigration bills on the floor this Thursday: The Dream & Promise Act and the Farmworker Workforce Modernization Act.

Hoyer admitted, “these two bills are not the fix, but they are fix to part of the problem.”

Hoyer vowed that the House will pass comprehensive immigration reform “in the coming months,” even as that path seems increasingly unlikely in the Senate especially in light of Senator Dick Durbin’s comments to CNN’s Manu Raju on Monday saying he doesn't believe there's enough support in this Congress to pass a full-blown immigration bill with a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants. 

“We need to pass comprehensive immigration reform and we are going to do so in the coming months,” Hoyer said.

Digging in deeper Hoyer later added, “we promised to our base that we were for comprehensive immigration reform. We are. We’re going to be working on that.”

“It is my expectation that we will bring as I said a comprehensive bill to the floor," he added.

Asked whether the situation at the border is affecting the debate on immigration, Hoyer pushed back by saying, “let’s be honest. The Republicans have for a long period of time used immigration as a political football to impart fear and apprehension in the minds of Americans.”

“Republicans demagogue this issue” Hoyer added, making clear that he thinks the GOP are leaning into this because “they believe it’s a political benefit for them.”

Hoyer said that there is consensus that the immigration system is broken, namely because there is not an effective path to citizenship, and argued that what’s happening at the border now “is an example of, the results of it being broken, and the Biden administration clearly recognizes there’s a challenge.”

Coming to the defense of the Biden administration’s handling of the growing crisis at the border, Hoyer added, “they have been in office now for what, 54 days or something like that. And they’re going to try to deal with the problem, but they want to fix the problem. Dealing with the problem in a way that demagogues the problem has not been helpful, is not helpful.”

The new details emerging daily at the US-Mexico border are tough to track.

It's a fast-moving situation, described by the Biden administration as a "stressful challenge" and decried by critics of immigration as a "crisis." There are a lot of developments we're still learning in real time.

Here's a look at some of the key numbers we've been hearing, the deeper stories behind them and the questions we have:

More than 3,700

More than 100,000

Read more here.

GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said today that the Biden administration must “answer for enticing unaccompanied minors into inhumane conditions” that “expose these children to traffickers, to abuse, and to terror.”

The governor made his remarks at a news conference held across the street from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, which is one of several sites preparing to house unaccompanied minors who cross the Texas-Mexico border.

The governor said border crossings are up and “on pace to hit a 20-year high.”

The Biden administration has stopped short of calling the situation at the border a “crisis.” Speaking during his first congressional hearing since confirmation, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told lawmakers the situation at the border is "undoubtedly difficult."

In response to the top Republican on the committee, Rep. John Katko, Mayorkas said, "I'm not spending any time on the language that we use."

The use of the word "crisis" has become a sticking point for the administration, as the White House has also declined use the description, sometimes referring to it as a “challenge.” 

Mayorkas later said, “I will share with you how I define a crisis. A crisis is when a nation is willing to rip a 9-year-old child out of the hands of his or her parent and separate that family to deter future migration. That to me is a humanitarian crisis.”

In an interview with ABC on Tuesday, President Biden discouraged migrants from crossing the border saying, "I can say quite clearly: Don't come."

With an increasing number of children crossing the US-Mexico border alone, Border Patrol facilities are where kids have to stay until officials can transfer them to shelters that are appropriate for them. These facilities are designed to care for adults, not kids, and are akin to jail-like facilities with concrete walls and benches.

Children at stations in the Tucson, Arizona, region, for instance, have to be transported from Border Patrol stations to a central coordination center to get showers, the Border Patrol agent told CNN.

Federal law requires unaccompanied children to be turned over within 72 hours to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees a shelter network designed to house minors.

The senior official heading Customs and Border Protection, Troy Miller, told reporters that minors receive three meals daily, have 24/7 access to snacks and drinks and that showers are provided at least every 48 hours. They also have access to a recreation area, Miller said.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas acknowledged the scope of the problem.

"The Border Patrol facilities have become crowded with children and the 72-hour timeframe for the transfer of children from the Border Patrol to [HHS] is not always met," Mayorkas said in a statement Tuesday.

"HHS has not had the capacity to intake the number of unaccompanied children we have been encountering," Mayorkas said.

In February, more than 9,400 children — ranging in ages — crossed the US-Mexico border, according to the latest available data from Customs and Border Protection. That's up from January and is expected to continue trending upward.

On Monday, CBP encountered around 570 unaccompanied children, CNN has learned. Seventy-six were 12 years old and under.

"March will be bigger than February," in terms of apprehensions based on current data, "and quite ugly" the Homeland Security official said.

The Biden administration plans to use a convention center in Dallas to hold more than 2,000 migrant teenagers, according to a Department of Homeland Security official and a city memo obtained by CNN.

The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center would be temporarily used to shelter teenage boys who arrived at the US-Mexico border alone, the official said.

Rocky Vaz, director of the Office of Emergency Management in Dallas, described the facility as a "decompression center" and told city leaders it would house teen boys ages 15 to 17 "to help relieve the overcrowding currently at the border," according to the memo.

The plans, first reported by The Associated Press, mark the latest attempt by the administration to keep up with the number of unaccompanied children at the US-Mexico border. In the absence of additional shelter space, facilities along the border have been under increased strain.

As of Sunday, there were more than 4,200 children in US Border Patrol custody.

Lawyers who spoke with about a dozen children held in a Border Patrol facility in Texas said kids were terrified, crying and worried about not being able to speak with family members. Some said they hadn't seen sunlight in days. Others said that if they were lucky, they would go outside for 20 minutes every few days.

Officials have been scrambling to find space to accommodate children and cut down on their time in Border Patrol facilities, which are intended to process adults, not care for children.

HHS recently opened a new emergency intake site in Texas to process the growing number of children crossing the US-Mexico border alone, the department said.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins contributed reporting to this post.

President Biden discouraged would-be migrants from coming to the United States, telling ABC News on Tuesday, "I can say quite clearly: Don't come."

The President continued: "We're in the process of getting set up. Don't leave your town or city or community."

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas continued that theme in today's House hearing, saying: "The border is secure and the border is not open" when asked by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee to succinctly describe his border policy and moving migrant children to temporary sites.

Mayorkas said they are not expelling children who are unaccompanied without a parent or a legal guardian and noted that they are "caring for their custody and their sheltering."

Republicans pushed back on Mayorkas' characterization of the situation at the border. New York Rep. John Katko, the top Republican on the committee, said the situation on the border, where he just visited, continues to "get worse everyday with inadequate action or even proper acknowledgement of the severity of the situation."

"I can tell you without hesitation that it is indeed a crisis that continues to deepen each and every day," he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declined to call the situation along the Southwest border a "crisis" during his first congressional testimony since taking office. 

In response to the top Republican on the committee, Rep. John Katko, Mayorkas said, "I'm not spending any time on the language that we use."

The use of the word "crisis" has become a sticking point for the administration, as the White House has also declined use the description, sometimes referring to it as a “challenge.”  

Mayorkas later said, "I will share with you how I define a crisis. A crisis is when a nation is willing to rip a 9-year-old child out of the hands of his or her parent and separate that family to deter future migration. That to me is a humanitarian crisis." 

He said President Biden is committed to ensuring an "immigration system works" and that migration to the US is "safe, orderly and humane."

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