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The Trump administration also blames court-ordered limits on the ability to detain children past 20 days, insisting that has only encouraged travelers to bring children with them because of the promise of a quick release, allowing them to live and work while waiting for an overwhelmed immigration court system to take up their case.

Critics have countered that the president has done too little to address the humanitarian crisis in Central America and that his threats to close the border and build a wall may have even encouraged the latest rush of asylum seekers.

ABC News Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.

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