A senior Republican senator on Tuesday said Congress is to blame for the continued surge of migrants arriving at the southern border each month and for the beleaguered state that border officials are in as they try to process families, unaccompanied children, and single adults.

“We have been AWOL, and that’s shameful,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration, said during a hearing on the issue Tuesday.

Recommended Stories

Illegal border crossings in July down more than 20 percent from May peak: DHS

More than 90,000 apprehended for illegally crossing southern border in March

Wall supporter Martha McSally says more barrier won’t end border crisis