A top official of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement warned Monday that a Democratic effort to limit detentions would create a new “pull factor” for illegal immigration, weakening border security while forcing the release of current inmates.

“They are trying to undermine our ability to do interior enforcement,” ICE Deputy Director Matt Albence told reporters on a call arranged by the White House. “If [prospective illegal immigrants] know that there is no enforcement officer in the interior of the United States out there looking for them, you will continually have that pull factor and you will never secure the border.”