The White House said that critics are presenting no solution.
Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy and a dozen Republican Party members criticized President Joe Biden for what they say was a slow response to what they call an ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The criticism came after they visited a detention center on the US-Mexico border on Monday.
“It is more than a crisis. It is a human heartbreak,” McCarthy told reporters on Monday at a news conference in El Paso, Texas.
McCarthy and his Republican colleagues took advantage of Biden’s immigration policies, blaming the government for the wave of immigrant crossings across the border.
Democrats insist that McCarthy and his Republican counterparts are exaggerating the situation.
“I think Dr. Seuss’s approach has not worked for them. Now they have to change the subject,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week about the Republicans’ renewed focus on the border. Democrats say Republicans are trying to distract themselves from the popular $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package that Biden has just sanctioned.
Republican Party Senator John Cornyn went to the Senate floor on Monday to describe his weekend trip to the border facilities in Carrizo Springs, Texas.
“Unless measures are taken to stem the flow of migrants across the border, this Category 5 hurricane will break the entire system,” he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the situation “painful” and “unacceptable”, adding, “I think the challenge here is that there are just – not so many options.”
She said the president’s critics “are not offering many solutions”.
“We want to expedite the removal of these children from these CBP (Customs and Border Protection) facilities as soon as possible,” she told reporters.
McCarthy, however, dubbed the situation “Biden’s Border Crisis”.
The Republican leader said the detention center the group visited on Monday, built just over a year ago, is already full.
“They are having to build an improvised facility in the parking lot,” he said.
McCarthy said members of the Republican Party spoke to a family in Honduras who they said had been traveling for at least 22 days.
“Even though the United States Congress passed a $ 1.9 trillion bill, there is no $ 1 to help them,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy asked Biden to go to the border to see the crisis for himself.
“I know the president is going to travel this week. That’s where he should be bringing Air Force One,” McCarthy said.
Psaki said he had no announcements to share about Biden’s move to the border, but reiterated that the government is working “to develop solutions that streamline border processing”.
“This will open up more facilities, which will ensure that children are treated humanely and also safely,” she said.
ABC News’s Trish Turner contributed to this report.