Department of Homeland Security figures that show illegal immigration on the rise are "only half the story," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said.
Homeland Security's statistics showed 408,870 illegal immigrants were apprehended at the southwest border of the U.S. In 2015, that number was 331,333.
Sessions said in a statement, "408,870 does not include those illegal aliens who evaded detection and successfully entered the United States."
The president of the National Border Patrol Council said for every immigrant that is apprehended, another one slips through, Sessions added.
The report did not mention how many of the 408,870 had been removed from the U.S.
"The simple fact is that tens, if not hundreds, of thousands, of those apprehended are still in the country," Sessions said.
The Alabama senator blasted President Barack Obama's immigration policies, saying they have made the country "less secure than we were eight years ago," when Obama took office.
Those policies also "eviscerated any semblance of credibility in our immigration system, and have created an ever-growing financial burden on U.S. taxpayers. The Obama administration and the special interests may not believe in secure borders, but the American people do,” Sessions said.
In the release of the statistics, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson appeared to agree with some of Sessions' points.
"The reality is the system is broken, and badly (in) need of comprehensive immigration reform that only Congress can provide," Johnson said.
Sessions is a supporter and surrogate of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He said Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's support of open borders is the "smoking gun" of this year's election.
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