Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) visited the U.S.-Mexico border with Vice President Mike Pence last week and, based upon what he observed, said the "system" is "about to break" because of the overwhelming numbers of immigrants seeking asylum. He added that there are many people who had broken the law and were being held and would be held for "400 days" or more, if needed, because they are too "dangerous."
The senator also said that immigrants are flooding across the border from at least 60 different countries, including Syria, and that the open borders and free health care views of the Democrats were "insane" and damaging to the country.
"Well, not only are they [Democrats and liberals] trying to stop people from being deported who have had their day in court and lost -- and, by the way, Obama deported three million people -- but the ICE raids today are focused on criminals who have gone to court and lost their case," said Sen. Graham on Sunday Morning Futures, hosted by Fox News' Maria Bartiromo.
"Democrats are also advocating decriminalizing entry into the United States and providing free health care to illegal immigrants once they get here," he said. "They're becoming the party of open borders and free health care, and you can't deport somebody who lost their court case.
"This is insane," he said. "It's going to blow up in their face, and it is really doing damage to our country."
When asked about what he saw at the detention centers at the border, Sen. Graham said, "I saw a system completely overwhelmed for no good reason. Our laws are set up such that if you can bring a small child to America coming from Central America, we can only hold a child for 20 days. Then we let the entire family go because we don't want to separate families. We can't process a case in 20 days."
He continued, "What did I see? Fifty-two thousand people have been released into the interior of the United States from this one Border Patrol area alone. What did I see? A system about to break. I saw brave men and women who are doing an incredible job under difficult circumstances."
"I saw 900 illegal immigrants that were captured for coming into our country illegally housed in detention facilities that was meant for 385," said the senator. "So they had to put a tent in the back."
"What I saw is a bunch of people who have been here before, broke the law before, and we're not going to let them go," he said. "I don't care if they have to stay in these facilities for 400 days. We're not going to let those men go that I saw. It would be dangerous."
The senator further said, "And also I saw that 60 different nations are sending people here illegally. We caught people from Iran, Syria, every place in the world. They're coming through our border."
Bartiromo noted that some of the illegal immigrants are from Bangladesh.