HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urges Congress to fix 'broken' immigration system after visiting Texas tent city where migrant kids are self-harming and trying to escape

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urged Congress to overhaul the country's immigration system after visiting a troubled tented camp for children center at the Fort Bliss military base near El Paso.

Vice President Kamala Harris avoided the facility during her visit to the Texas border city last week, asking Becerra instead to launch an investigation after reports that children were harming themselves and trying to escape the squalid conditions.

Most adult migrants arriving at the border are being turned back according to public health rules applied during the pandemic.

But unaccompanied children are being admitted and thousands are housed in emergency centers, such as Fort Bliss.

'We need to fix this broken immigration system,' said Becerra on a conference call with reporters, according to the New York Times.

'We need to be prepared to handle circumstances like this, and we need to do it in the best way possible.'

Xavier Becerra (seen on the right of this file picture) said: 'We need to fix this broken immigration system,' after visiting an emergency facility housing hundreds of children in tents at a U.S. Army base near El Paso, Texas

The Biden administration has been grappling with how best to look after unaccompanied children arriving at the southern border. This file picture shows children inside a playpen at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, the main detention center for unaccompanied children in the Rio Grande Valley, in Donna, Texas

Activists defending the rights of migrants hold a protest near Fort Bliss to call for the end of the detention of unaccompanied minors at the facility in El Paso, Texas

Officials have reportedly taken away pens and toothbrushes to prevent children harming themselves at the facility

President Biden's officials have repeatedly blamed the Trump administration for dismantling the legal immigration system and Becerra called on Washington to press ahead with plans for reform.

'I would really encourage our colleagues in the House and the Senate to consider taking that proposal on so we can get to a system that works,' he said, even though few expect progress on Biden's plan.

He spoke after seeing for himself conditions at Fort Bliss, where tents have been built on desert land to accommodate child arrivals.

As many as 4800 children were held there in May but the number is now 790, according to Becerra, who also said his agency was looking to see if it could close some of the emergency shelters.

Officials at the site have reportedly banned the use of pencils, toothbrushes and metal items to prevent children harming themselves.

The Associated Press reported that interview transcripts filed in Los Angeles federal court last week showed children desperate to escape.

Several said they spent their days sleeping to cope with the boredom while others said they had been unable to sleep because of the way lights were kept on at night.

Some described foul smelling food and said they were denied sufficient access to a mental health counselor.

When Harris visited the area last week, her spokeswoman Symone Sanders said Biden had instructed Becerra to launch a 'thorough investigation.'

'The administration is taking this very seriously. Extremely seriously,' she said.