On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) said the mainstream media, by promoting and amplifying President Barack Obama’s calls for more amnesty, was also to blame for the flood of illegal immigrant children from Central America coming across the border.

In a CNN appearance on Wednesday, Bridenstine, whom many conservatives wanted to replace Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), said that “crime is not worse” in Central America today than it was when he was a Navy pilot. He mentioned that he “did counter-illicit trafficking operations as a Navy pilot” and “was there just two years ago doing counter-illicit trafficking operations.”

“The only difference is we have the president of the United States and we have a number of members of Congress and, of course, folks in the media saying that we need to get them here and then turn them into citizens,” he said. “That’s what’s creating this crisis.”

The numbers show that Bridenstine is correct, as the number of illegal immigrant children unlawfully crossing the border has spiked since President Barack Obama enacted his temporary amnesty program for certain DREAMers via executive action: