- It is a startling admissionfrom a top Biden official.

The United States is on paceto reach the highest number

of people caught crossing thesouthern border in 20 years.

It all comes as the Bidenadministration faces

increasing pressure onboth sides of the aisle

to send a stronger message to migrants

attempting to cross the border illegally.

CBN Capitol Hill correspondent,

Abigail Robertson joins us now.

Abigail, can you help set the stage?

Can you set the numbers

or describe the currentsituation by the numbers?

- Well, John, more than4,200 unaccompanied children

remain in custody at theUS Border Patrol stations,

with many of them being detained

longer than the 72-hour legal limit.

And as this humanitariancrisis is growing,

the Biden administration isblaming their predecessor.

- Give us the time to rebuild the system

that was entirely dismantledin the prior administration.

- [Abigail] According toDHS secretary, Mayorkas,

border agents are turning awaysingle adults and families,

but not unaccompanied children.

- We are building thecapacity to address the needs

of those children when they arrive,

but we are also and criticallysending an important message

that now is not the timeto come to the border.

- [Abigail] They are often keptlonger than legally allowed

in tent-like structures,

where some reportedly sleep on the floor.

While the Biden administrationwon't let journalists inside

to report on the situation,

one lawyer getting a firsthand look

described conditions to ABC news.

- [Lawyer] That is where theywould spend their entire day.

They did tell us that every few days,

they were allowed to go into a courtyard

for about 20 minutes.

- [Abigail] Attempting toget a handle on the crisis,

DHS deployed FEMA to thesouthern border over the weekend.

And in Dallas, the conventioncenter will be used

to house up to 3000 migrant teenagers.

- When we walked those facilities

and we looked in thoserooms that were packed,

these were children with no parents.

These were children thatwent numbers of days.

Who knows what happened to them.

Who knows who didn't make it.

So no, don't encourage them to come.

- [Abigail] At the borderMonday, house minority leader

Kevin McCarthy called forthe president to take action.

- This is where he shouldbring Air Force One.

This is where he shouldlook the people in the eye.

This is where he shouldtalk to the border agents

and let them know thatthis is beyond a crisis.

- [Abigail] White housepress secretary, Jen Psaki,

says the administrationis working to get the kids

out of shelters and into sponsored homes.

- We are trying to workthrough what was a dismantled

and unprepared system because of the role

of the last administration.

It's going to take some time,but we are very clear-eyed

about what the problems are,

and very focused onputting forward solutions.

- Now, the House is set tovote on two small pieces

of Biden's largerimmigration reform plans.

And this, those bills wouldprovide paths to citizenship

for agricultural workers andmillions who came to the US

as children, known as the dreamers.

Back to you, John.

- [John] CBN's Abigail.