as julia ainsley reports from denver, there's growing strain on health care and schools. >> reporter: tonight, one of colorado's largest hospitals facing a crisis. physicians at denver health telling us they treat everyone who comes to the e.r. regardless of immigration status or ability to pay, but they're struggling to handle a spike in migrant patients >> it is really, really hard to take care of them, both in terms of their inability to pay, but also just the sheer volume of patients that we weren't expecting. >> reporter: denver has a population of 700,000 people. in just the last year, nearly 40,000 migrants have arrived the mayor declaring a state of emergency more than 8,000 migrants have come to denver health for care, and most of that is coming out of the hospital's pocket. the hospital says they need more help from federal and state government to pay for over $10 million in unpaid migrant medical bills so far outside a shelter, we meet mary anise and her three sons she's being treated here for parkinson's "i'm very grateful in my country it was very difficult we were not ab

as julia ainsley reports from denver, there's growing strain on health care and schools. >> reporter: tonight, one of colorado's largest hospitals facing a crisis. physicians at denver health telling us they treat everyone who comes to the e.r. regardless of immigration status or ability to pay, but they're struggling to handle a spike in migrant patients. >> it is really, really hard to take care of them, both in terms of their inability to pay, but also just the sheer volume of patients that we weren't expecting. >> reporter: denver has a population of 700,000 people, and in just the last year, nearly 40,000 migrants have arrived. the mayor declaring a state of emergency. more than 8,000 migrants have come to denver health for care, and most of that is coming out of the hospital's pocket. the hospital says they need more help from federal and state government to pay for over $10 million in unpaid migrant medical bills so far. outside a shelter we meet mary and her three sons. she's being treated here for parkinson's. "i'm very grateful. in my country it was very difficult. we were n

joining me now is nbc's homeland security correspondent julia ainsley and nbc capitol hill correspondents also asking the supreme court to allow border patrol to cut or move the razor wire at the texas border. what's the latest from the courts? you've got greg abbott, the governor, up against not only the big cities, sending migrants to them, but up against the justice department now. >> reporter: yes, and andrea, this is the third ongoing lawsuit between the biden administration and governor greg abbott's administration over those policies he's put in place where texas is trying to take stands on the border by putting up buoys along the rio grande valley while sending buses of migrants into u.s. cities, while trying to allow state judges to deport migrants. the razor wire issue is now being sent back -- well, they have told -- they've asked the supreme court to tell the fifth circuit that they should be allowed to cut the razor wire. just today the solicitor general said while they are deciding this, they should know that arguments between the fifth circuit over that injunction will hap

nbc news homelard security julia ainsley joins me now. we just got some new data on just how many migrants have been encountered by border patrol. >> reporter: it's sharp drop, they're down to about 2500 per day that's coming off of some days in december there were over 12,000, a record high, right their 21-day is 2500. data over the past few years, historically around christmas and new year's those numbers do go down, a time for fewer migrants crossing and if you look at how many migrants were crossing in december it's also not crazy to think that the cartels are trying to go back and get more migrants and collect more resources and push more forward. officials have said yes, the numbers have dropped but the overall situation at the southern border hasn't changed. >> julia, the strain on the immigration system that we've covered pretty thoroughly on this program, four ports of entry reopened tomorrow, why the timing, why are they being reopened now? because of those lower numbers. they had to close those ports of entry, where illegal mig

. >> nbc's julia ainsley is tracking the latest at the border for us, nbc's ryan noble reporting from kelly o'donnell is at the white house. so julia, what are the latest numbers telling us about the current situation at the border? >> they're telling us that that picture that the speaker posted wasn't just a ploy by the biden administration. right there in the del rio sector in texas, in december there were some days where 3,000 migrants crossed just in that sector. there were only 2,500 migrants who crossed the border illegally in a single day on new year's day. we understand those numbers have continued. that's coming from a previous 21-day average of over 8,000. there were some days in december where they saw more than 12,000 border crossings. they are seeing a decrease. dhs officials i've spoken to say we're not taking a victory lap. we think this might be because of the holiday. it might be because the cartels, the smugglers, the people who move these migrants pushed so many people through in december, now they're going back, getting more resources, getting more migrants as they

nbc's julia ainsley joins us now. what are we hearing if anything from the republican lawmakers? >> reporter: they are accusing the biden administration of slowing down the migrants, sending them to another part of the border so there's nothing to see in eagle pass. last month there were as many as 3,000 crossing in the very sector of the border. now we have as many as just 2,500 a day crossing the entire southwest border. so far fewer, and definitely far fewer there in the eagle pass, del rio area of texas. democrats, including chuck schumer on the hill saying that, you know what, actually the real work is to be done in washington. here's what he had to say today. >> it's very nice that they have a trip to the border, but the only way to solve this is here working in a bipartisan way with senate republicans, senate democrats and house democrats to get it done, period, and i hope the speaker will realize that if he wants to solve the problem on the border. >> and of course he's talking about those negotiations that remain ongoing between democrats and republicans that tie ukraine

julia ainsley, who covers the department of homeland security, and punch bowl news co-founder anna palmer. help us understand the allegations here that republicans believe are worthy of impeachment. >> reporter: well, ana, what republicans are trying to build a case for today with these impeachment articles and this process they're going through in a committee is establish that alejandro mayorkas was aware of the statutes and laws on the books when it comes to enforcing border security, and that he willfully and in some cases purposefully just did not adhere to those laws and that is what has led to the current border crisis. there is a ton of disagreement as to the interpretation of how he's applied those statutes, including from the administration itself, and alejandro mayorkas himself who is forcefully defended himself this morning in a letter, but this has become such a flashpoint issue for republicans and they feel frustrated by the lack of what they see attention to this issue by the administration that they feel that the step is necessary and they targeted mayorkas as somewhat as t

julia ainsley for us, thank you, julia, appreciate it. >>> coming up next, a new op-ed from donald trumpthe des moines register as we enter the final stretch at the iowa caucuses. new charges filed against new jersey senator bob menendez, what he and his wife are alleged to have done after federal agents raided their home in 2022. about three or four years ago, i wasn't feeling as if i was as sharp as i used to be. i saw the prevagen commercials. after a short amount of time taking prevagen, i started noticing a difference-- that i'm remembering this, i'm remembering that. i stopped taking prevagen and i found myself slacking back so i jumped right back on it. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. (ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) so we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. have you ever wondered what an icon,... ...a legend,... ...a legacy,... ...a

joining us, julia ainsley, and david noriega in eagle pass, texas,and "usa today" washington bureau chieft is happening as of right now? >> they are going back and forth, josÉ, republicans and democrats giving their opening statements. you played a chunk from the top democrat on the panel, and you see the line of thought the democrats are putting forward, that this is a political stunt and nothing more than a sham. they are saying while republicans are pursuing this impeachment of alejandro mayorkas, he's been negotiating a bipartisan deal to try and fix some of the issues republicans are impeaching mayorkas for, and this is what congress is trying to fix to make sure the administration has all of the proper authorities moving forward. nonetheless, i want you to take a listen to what mark green, the chairman of the committee had to say in backing up and standing behind the effort. watch. >> today is a great day. we have not approached this day or this process lightly. secretary mayorkas' actions have forced our hand. we cannot allow the border crisis to continue, for criminals to waltz in

. >> nbc's julia ainsley is following this story. butler, former federal prosecutor, professor at georgetown law, and msnbc legal analyst. walk us through what this lawsuit says, julia and how governor abbott is responding. >> it might seem farfetched to go after the bus company rather than texas itself but this is just the latest in a string of actions that new york mayor eric adams is trying to take to be reimbursed. he's gone through the federal government to get more money. hasn't got as much as he says he needs. we know he signed an executive order saying where buses could go and drop off migrants and how they needed a heads up on when they might be coming and they say texas has not complied with that. he's suing the bus companies, the charter buses paid for by texas. texas governor greg abbott completely dismissed this saying it was baseless. in a statement, here's what he had to say. th lawsuit is baseless. mayor adams says nothing about the commerce claus, if the mayor persists in the lawsuit he may be held accountable for hi

. >> nbc's is julia ainsley is following this hearing for us. julia, great seeing you.ut to you about these efforts to essentially remove mayorkas from office? >> it's really interesting to hear the arguments here. so republicans are saying, jose, that because under mayorkas, the biden administration does not have operational control of the border and because they're releasing 85% of migrants that that is grounds for impeachment. but what they're not pointing out is three things. one being that no one has had operational control since the department of homeland security was even brought into existence. that would be not letting a single person cross the border without immediate detention. they're also not pointing out the fact that, yes, there are 81% of releases compared to 10% under obama, but the numbers have gotten so much bigger. the key piece is they have not given the funding -- in fact, they voted to cut funding -- to dhs that's been requested from the biden administration. when the numbers of people crossing the border are so high, as we know record highs last

joining us now is julia ainsley.as and the feds. >> we know earlier this week, the biden administration asked the state of texas to comply with a cease-and-desist order to allow border patrol access to the border. and this one part of eagle pass, texas, known as shelby park, that's really been the epicenter for a long time of hundreds of migrants. in fact, in some case thousands crossing in a single day there. as you can see, they cross the dangerous rio grand river. last week the texas government decided to block border patrol from the area and told them to remove their surveillance equipment. as a result, border patrol says a mother and two of her young children died, drown in the rio grand river. what they said to texas is they don't cease and desist, they are going to the justice department. so a lawsuit could be pending. just last night the texas attorney general said they would not be complying. he cited a number of reasons in his letter to the administration and said that the texas allows prompt entry into she

julia ainsley is following this for us. let's start with that impeachment hearing of secretary mayorkas. >> they've been in recess for three and some hours. we expect them to come back and go into midnight, because there are a loft fireworks between republicans and democrats, republicans saying that secretary mayorkas should be impeached because he did not have the trust of the american people, that he willfully neglected the law. democrats saying, look, he absolutely followed the law and this is just a matter of policy differences between the biden administration and what the republicans want them to do on the border and they're not getting anything done by dragging out these impeachment hearings, when mayorkas is in the senate working on a deal that could increase border security. it's debatable whether it will pass there. but it's highly unlikely to pass in the senate. >> president biden said it would give him the authority to shut down the border. how will that work? >> my colleagues on the hill were able to get new det

. >> nbc's julia ainsley joins us now. it's complicated for me. what's happening there?ht there, that's a republican asking the run democratic called witness, a constitutional professor is trying to pin him on the fact that he said, as far as he's seen, secretary mayorkas has committed no high crimes and misdemeanors so therefore there's no reason, no legal base for his impeachment. in this case, he's trying to say because there's been human trafficking, and fentanyl across the border, the professor says mayorkas has not done either of those things. around and around we went was pretty much the story of the day here, with republicans bringing up serious problems like fentanyl, human trafficking, like the record number of migrants across the border but not establishing a case for impeachment or establishing how all of those problems sit on the feet of secretary mayorkas. >> okay. so what happens next? >> what we did hear, they'll continue to do this. they have another hearing next week. they have given the secretary to say whether he'll show up. it's not common to testify

julia ainsley is with us this morning. great seeing you.ion between state and federal? >> it is heating up. we knew have heard from the attorney general from texas saying that texas will not com apply with the cease and desist order to allow border patrol access to shelby park. this is a place where they have processed thousands of migrants. just last week a mother and her two young children drowned there. and cdp said it would not have happen had had they had access. and so it looks like it might being headed to court because the biden administration told abbott administration if they did not comply and allow them access, they would then go to the justice department. the justice department right now declining to comment. but this is probably another confrontation between federal and state here over immigration in texas. but this issue is unprecedented. the idea that state law enforcement agency would block federal agents from accessing the u.s. border is something we've never seen before. and paxton in the letter said that the reason is th

julia ainsley joins me now, what do we know about what's in this proposed border deal?> it comes with a number of provisions to try to make it harder for migrants to cross the southern border when they present themselves for asylum, a trend bringing more migrants to the united states in the last decade, this would increase the number of people who are working for cbp as well as i.c.e. and asylum officers, it would add more detention beds awaiting court hearings. speed up the asylum process. but all of that hinges on money. these logistics haven't been ironed out and if they don't put enough money towards this i'm told they could end up policies that are unfunded mandates and put them in a bind. if you can't release migrants, nowhere to put them, just more of backup. >> house republicans are revealing articles of impeachment against homeland security secretary mayorkas, what do we need to know about that. >> reporter: expect fireworks tomorrow at the house home land security committee, will bring articles of impeachment to say that mayorkas is not fit to be the homeland