Kirstjen Nielsen isn't the problem in the border crisis, it's Congress, Mollie Hemingway says

close

Video

Homeland Security shake-up amid ongoing border crisis

The “Special Report” all-star panel addressed the border crisis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stepping down with Bret Baier Monday, focusing on what it means and whether or not Democrats could take advantage of the border situation.

The Federalist's senior editor Mollie Hemingway noted that while Nielsen stepped down, the problem wasn’t her performance of her job but the performance of Congress and its inability to address policies that “incentivize” human trafficking.

“The real problem that we have is that we have laws that incentivize the trafficking of children. There's a limit to what you can accomplish at a department when the underlying problem is something that nobody wants to deal with,” Hemingway told Baier.

“Congress has to accept that... as much as they don't want to do this, they might finally need to deal with some of these loopholes that are incentivizing these problems that are... causing problems for the department.”

NIELSEN RESIGNS AS DHS SECRETARY AFTER WHITE HOUSE MEETING WITH TRUMP

Jeff Mason, the White House correspondent for Reuters, said his reporting showed that the president’s priority has been the border and he felt not enough was being done about it.

Video

“So what I'm hearing and what my reporting has shown is that the president was ready for a change of leadership at the top of DHS. His most important priority is dealing with that border,” Mason said.

“And, he didn't feel that enough was being done to deal with the border, and so he's ready for somebody new, somebody with a lot of experience dealing with a border. They may be looking at some other options in terms of regulation.”

Fox News digital politics editor Chris Stirewalt noted, “The president's obviously worried that he's not delivered on his promises about securing the southern border.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Stirewalt added, “He wants to be able to say that he got the job done. But, Democrats are in no position to take advantage of this opportunity, because, just look at their 2020 field.”

He continued, “No one has come out so far to my knowledge -- no 2020 Democrat has come out and talked about a need for greater border security. Nobody's come out... talking about a need for dealing with the flow of migrants. Nobody's talked about having to change the law. We hear a lot about amnesty but we don't hear a lot about the other side of this equation, and if some Democrat isn't there to get serious about this, they'll leave the lane open for Trump.”

Fox News' Bret Baier contributed to this report.