WATCH: Sen. Hawley SLAMS Biden administration for 'creating' the border crisis

Sen. Josh Hawley called out the Biden administration in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday for "sending a message" that the border is open, allowing for a crisis on multiple levels to persist as a result.

"I'm glad that we have the opportunity today to talk about what is happening on the border, and to have a chance to look at and examine what is, I think, a humanitarian crisis. It is a national security crisis. It is a drug crisis. It's also, frankly, a moral crisis," said Hawley.

Hawley pointed out the crisis of drug cartels smuggling children at the border, the same cartels bringing copious amounts of drugs into the country.

"When you see what these cartels are doing on our border, when you see the children being exploited and smuggled for profit by these cartels at the border, when you see the lies that these cartels are telling innocent people to get their money and bring them across the border, and when you see the effects of the drugs that are flowing across this border into every community of my state—I come from the state of Missouri. You can't visit a community in my state that is not frankly awash in drugs. From where? From across the border," Hawley stated.

Hawley slammed the Biden administration, saying that they have a "moral obligation" to addresses the border crisis, not to signal that the border is open.

"Our border is in a state of total crisis. And it is a crisis that is affecting every single person in my state, and in this country and I suggest to you, we have a moral obligation—this administration has a moral obligation to address the crisis it has created at the border for children, for families, for American citizens," he said.

"The statistics tell the story. The number of family units crossing the border is up 4,143 percent from last May. That border crossing is not safe," Hawley continued. "The border is not open, and yet the Biden administration has sent the message that it is open, and it has effectively encouraged this illegal smuggling, it has encouraged this exploitation of children, it has encouraged this drug crisis we see with its policies."

"That is a hard truth but it is the truth, and the American people are owed the truth, and the moral consequences of these policies have to be confronted and addressed and owned up to," said Hawley.

Hawley added that due to these crisis, he would not support HR 6, the bill being considered during the meeting. HR 6, or the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, looks to "certain aliens with a path to receive permanent resident status and contains other immigration-related provisions," according to the bill text.

"And I'm afraid I can't support the legislation we're considering today because I think it goes in exactly the opposite direction. I think creating new loopholes for illegal immigrants who have criminal records, sending the message that more people ought to come here illegally while devaluing legal immigration is exactly the wrong way to go," Hawley concluded.