Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen made a “colossal mistake” when she began “inviting” foreign nationals to use the ports of entry to enter the United States legally, an expert tells SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight.

Center for Immigration Studies Director of Policy Jessica Vaughan told Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Rebecca Mansour that Nielsen’s testimony this week in which she pleaded with foreign nationals not to enter the U.S. illegally and instead come to the ports of entry to seek asylum was “the classic mixed message” on immigration.

During her testimony, Nielsen said to potential border-crossers and asylum-seekers:

If you are fleeing and you have a need to come to the United States, please come to the ports of entry. You know, we will process your claim there. But if you come across the border illegally, you’ve broken the law and we have to prosecute. It’s the only way to keep our border, to have a border. [Emphasis added]

Vaughan told Breitbart News Tonight that Nielsen’s statement will have a detrimental impact on the southern border crisis, where already more than 30,000 foreign nationals have approached the ports of entry since October of 2017.

Vaughan said:

This is like the classic mixed message… it sounded like she was inviting people to come to the port of entry. I truly believe that is going to be the takeaway from her testimony and that was a major, major mistake. [Emphasis added] … That was like negligence in testimony. I cannot, I think it’s impossible to sugar coat that in any way. That was just a colossal mistake. [Emphasis added]

Listen to Vaughan’s full interview here:

Nielsen gave the testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee and after a caravan of Central Americans flooded the U.S.-Mexico border to seek asylum and cross illegally.

Vaughan said Nielsen’s claims in her testimony that DHS has the illegal immigration and asylum system currently under control are typical of Washington, D.C., bureaucrats.

“This is the classic kind of response you get from a bureaucrat,” Vaughan said. “‘I’ve got everything under control, we’ve got this. We’re on top of it.’ Instead of telling [Congress] what the real problems are.”

Breitbart News Tonight broadcasts live Monday through Friday on SiriusXM’s Patriot channel 125 from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Eastern (6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific).