'Crisis on multiple levels': Ex-DHS Sec Jeh Johnson calls for bipartisan border bill on 'Fox & Friends'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Jeh Johnson, former Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security who was in office during the Obama administration, joined co-hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brain Kilmeade to discuss the border crisis on the February 29 episode of 'Fox & Friends.'

The impact of the crisis is being felt nationwide, claimed Johnson, while he pushed for the bipartisan pro-border security bill as the 'solution at hand'.

Jeh Johnson's take on illegal immigration

"In December, we had 250,000 apprehensions in one month. In my second year in office, we had 315,000 apprehensions in all of the year 2015. Just for some perspective here," Johnson told the co-hosts.

"I understand the numbers have dropped a bit of late, but longer-term big picture, this is a hemispheric shift northward. It's a crisis on multiple levels in multiple places."

Speaking of the extent of the problem, Johnson shared, "It's a crisis on the southern border in Texas, in Arizona, and it's a crisis here in midtown Manhattan, just a few blocks away. You can see migrants by the Roosevelt Hotel, on the subways at Times Square. This is extended nationwide."

"Now, the issue is, what do we do about it?" he continued. "Do we continue to play politics and scream about this issue or do we fix the problem? There are solutions to this problem, but given our politics, they become politically unobtainable solutions."

Jeh Johnson on bipartisan border bill

Looking at the grave threat the border situation poses for the nation, Johnson expressed his support of the bipartisan legislation and urged lawmakers to act fast on it.

"I like that bill. That is the strongest bipartisan pro-border security bill we've seen in a generation," he said. "It would be a tragedy if it slipped through our hands."

"We have a solution at hand… Let's embrace it. Let's vote on it. Let's get it done. I guarantee that if that legislation became law, the numbers would drop because we've addressed the problem, and because people in Central and South America see that we are addressing the problem."

He further called upon politicians to act instead of simply complaining, saying, "In my view, the legislation that James Lankford, the very conservative James Lankford, Chris Murphy, and Kyrsten Sinema negotiated is a good bill and would fix this problem… on several levels. I guarantee… that the numbers will drop if those provisions become law. The question is what are our politicians in Washington… going to do about this? Are they going to adopt this hard-fought compromise, or are we going to continue to complain about the problem?"