Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and his team were denied entry to a Miami-area facility housing unaccompanied migrant children Tuesday afternoon.
Nelson and former Democratic chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz were supposed to tour the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, but they were blocked from doing so when they arrived.
"The company running this facility told us we would be welcomed to tour the facility," Sen. Nelson tweeted. "HHS then denied us entry and said that they need 'two weeks notice' to allow us inside. That’s ridiculous and it’s clear this administration is hiding something."
President Donald Trump's administration is enforcing a zero-tolerance immigration policy, under which is prosecutes adults who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. However, in the last five weeks, that policy has resulted in more than 2,300 children being separated from their parents and sparked criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
Wasserman Schultz has called for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, CBS Miami reported.
“While some Trump Administration officials brag about their heartless new child separation policy, Secretary Nielsen has repeatedly denied its existence,” Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz said. “Lying to the American people about the cruel way our government is treating children at the border makes her unfit to lead. Secretary Nielsen must resign and be replaced by someone who understands that tearing young children away from their parents is fundamentally un-American.”
Recent reports suggest about 1,000 migrant children are being held in the Homestead shelter -- some of whom were split from their families at the border and others who were unaccompanied when they crossed into the U.S.
Nelson has filed legislation to block the Department of Homeland Security from splitting up families.
President Trump plans to meet with GOP lawmakers Tuesday to discuss immigration reform.
According to a CBS News poll, 62-percent of Americans disapprove of the president's handling of immigration issues.
House lawmakers are expected to consider two immigration-related bills this week. But, neither of the Republican-drafted bills are expected to pass, CBS Miami reported.
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