众议院共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡和十几名共和党众议员猛烈抨击总统乔·拜登因为他们声称对他们所称的持续的人道主义危机反应缓慢。

他们的批评是在周一参观了美墨边境的一个拘留中心后提出的。

“这不仅仅是一场危机。麦卡锡周一在德克萨斯州埃尔帕索的新闻发布会上告诉记者。

麦卡锡和他的共和党同僚抓住了拜登的移民政策，指责政府应对边境移民潮负责。

保罗·拉杰/路透社

众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡在一个共和党代表团参观期间向媒体发表讲话

民主党人坚持认为麦卡锡和他的共和党同僚夸大了形势。

“我猜他们的苏斯博士方法对他们不起作用。现在他们必须改变话题，”众议院议长南希·佩洛西上周谈到共和党人重新关注边境时说。民主党人表示，共和党人正试图转移人们对广受欢迎的1.9万亿美元的注意力新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)拜登刚刚签署成为法律。

共和党参议员约翰·科宁周一在参议院发言，描述了他周末前往得克萨斯州卡里佐斯普林斯边境拘留设施的行程。

“除非采取行动阻止移民越过边境，否则5级飓风将摧毁整个系统，”他说。

白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)称这种情况“令人心碎”，“不可接受”，并补充说，“我认为这里的挑战是，只有——没有那么多选择。”

她说，总统的批评者“没有提出很多解决方案”。

她告诉记者:“我们希望尽快将这些孩子从CBP海关和边境保护局转移出去，

然而，麦卡锡将这种情况称为“拜登边界危机”

这位共和党领导人说，该组织周一参观的拘留设施建于一年多前，已经超过容量。

“他们不得不在停车场建一个临时设施，”他说。

麦卡锡说，共和党众议院成员与一个来自洪都拉斯的家庭进行了交谈，他们说已经旅行了至少22天。

麦卡锡说:“尽管美国国会刚刚通过了一项1.9万亿美元的法案，但其中没有1美元可以帮助他们。”。

麦卡锡呼吁拜登亲自去边境看看这场危机。

“我知道总统本周要去旅行。这是他应该带空军一号去的地方，”麦卡锡说。

普萨基说，她没有关于拜登前往边境的任何声明，但重申政府正在努力“制定加快边境处理的解决方案”。

“这将开放更多的设施，这将确保孩子们得到人道的对待，也得到安全的对待，”她说。

GOP lawmakers slam Biden after visit to migrant detention center at border

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and a dozen GOP House members slammed PresidentJoe Bidenfor what they claim has been a slow response to what they call an ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Their criticism came after they visited a detention center on the U.S.-Mexico border Monday.

"It's more than a crisis. This is a human heartbreak," McCarthy told reporters Monday at a news conference in El Paso, Texas.

McCarthy and his fellow Republicans have seized on Biden's immigration policies, blaming the administration for a surge of migrant crossings at the border.

Democrats insist that McCarthy and his fellow Republicans are blowing the situation out of proportion.

"I guess their Dr. Seuss approach didn't work for them. Now they have to change the subject," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week about Republicans' renewed focus on the border. Democrats say Republicans are angling to distract from the wildly popular $1.9 trillionCOVID-19relief package Biden just signed into law.

GOP Sen. John Cornyn took to the Senate floor Monday to describe his weekend trip to the Carrizo Springs, Texas, border holding facility.

"Unless action is taken to stem the flow of migrants across the border that Category 5 hurricane is going to break the entire system," he said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the situation "heartbreaking" and "not acceptable," adding, "I think the challenge here is that there are only -- there are not that many options."

She said the president's critics "are not putting forward a lot of solutions."

"We want to expedite getting these kids out of these CBP (Customs and Border Protection) facilities as quickly as possible," she told reporters,

McCarthy, however, dubbed the situation a "Biden Border Crisis."

The Republican leader said that the detention facility the group toured Monday, built just over a year ago, is already over capacity.

"They're having to build into the parking lot a makeshift facility," he said.

McCarthy said GOP House members spoke with a family from Honduras they said had been traveling for at least 22 days.

"Even though the U.S. Congress just passed a $1.9 trillion bill, not $1 in there to help them," McCarthy said.

McCarthy called on Biden to go down to the border to see the crisis for himself.

"I know the president's going to travel this week. This is where he should bring Air Force One," McCarthy said.

Psaki said she didn't have any announcements to share about Biden going to the border, but reiterated that the administration is working "to develop solutions that will expedite processing at the border."

"That will open more facilities, that will ensure kids are treated with humanity and also treated safely," she said.