But, in an interview aired Sunday, Giammattei said he and Harris "are not on the same side of the coin" on the issue, and blamed what he saw as a more welcoming message to migrants by the new administration for the surge.
"The message changed too: ‘We’re going to reunite families, we’re going to reunite children,’" he told CBS News. "The very next day, the coyotes were here organizing groups of children to take them to the United States."
"We asked the United States government to send more of a clear message to prevent more people from leaving," he said.