Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Garrett Hake in Washington where lawmakers have left behind a mostly

empty capital as the southern border grows more overwhelmed by the day. Negotiations on a border security

deal will continue virtually for the holiday season, but the reality

on the ground is setting records.

Homeland security officials tell NBC news the number of apprehensions at the southern border

topped 12,000 for three days straight this week.

10,000 of those migrants crossed illegally between official ports of entry.

Those numbers are far beyond what the Department of Homeland Security facilities and personnel there

are equipped to handle. A record 27,000 migrants are currently in DHS custody and border

officials say that their processing centers are operating at nearly three times their capacity.

In a statement to NBC news today, the acting commissioner of customs and border protection called the surge a quote serious challenge saying

CBP needs more funds from Congress to address the illegal crossings.

That comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott escalated the political fight over the

border announcing that he sent a group of

migrants to Chicago on a government chartered flight for the first time. You're looking

at footage from one of those flights released by the governor. It's Abbott's latest move protesting the White

House border policies by sending migrants to cities run by Democrats. This comes

after Abbott enacted a law earlier this week authorizing state law enforcement

officers to arrest migrants who cross the border illegally.

The White House condemned Abbott's move in a statement today writing in part,

Governor Abbott is not interested in solutions.

He only seeks to use people as political pawns.

...