DHS secretary asks Congress for new authority to send migrant kids to home countries

Kirstjen Nielsen.
(Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

The Department of Homeland Security is "grappling with a humanitarian and security catastrophe that is worsening by the day," DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen wrote in a letter sent to Congress on Thursday, arguing she needs assistance dealing with the surge in migrants at the southern border.

In the letter, obtained by ABC News, Nielsen says the majority of migrants are families and unaccompanied minors "who pose a unique challenge to the system because most cannot be easily cared for, efficiently processed, or expeditiously removed, due to resource constraints and outdated laws."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.