GOP senator: Obama administration not taking border surge 'seriously'

The surge of unaccompanied children pouring across the Mexico border has spiked in recent months, putting the kids in danger and jeopardizing the safety of U.S. citizens, a powerful lawmaker told the Department of Homeland Security in a blistering letter earlier this week.

The Obama administration is not taking the matter of "shocking" and "alarming" increases in the number of children flooding in seriously, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., wrote in the letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. The lawmaker said the crisis has only worsened since it gained national prominence two years ago, with nearly 6,000 unaccompanied children and more than 9,000 families from Central America apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol last month, Johnson, who chairs the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said.