Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson toured Border Patrol facilities in Arizona Wednesday in an effort to address the growing issue of unaccompanied migrant children crossing into the United States. 

Johnson traveled to the Arizona border to see firsthand how Border Patrol agents are dealing with the influx of children crossing the border. 

According to Fox News Latino, more than 52,000 unaccompanied children from Central America have been arrested since October after crossing the border. The marked increase is 99 percent higher than last year. 

The majority of the children — about three quarters — have been arrested in the Rio Grande Valley area of South Texas, which is the area where most immigrants cross the border illegally. 

Immigration detention facilities have been overwhelmed with the influx of children, and they are not equipped to house the large number of children for a long period of time. Due to the lack of space, Homeland Security has been flying children to Arizona to be processed at a facility in Nogales, from which they are sent to various shelters across the country. 

Johnson said Tuesday that Arizona officials should have been notified before hundreds of undocumented children were sent to Nogales for processing. Instead, officials heard about it through media reports. 

"It shouldn't have happened that way. The congressional delegation, local officials should have gotten notice," Johnson said during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing about the increase in unaccompanied migrant children, according to the Arizona Daily Star. 

He also reiterated that children, no matter how young, can be deported. 

 "When you're apprehended at the border, regardless of age, you're a priority for removal," Johnson said. 

On Tuesday, it was announced that the federal government intends to turn a 55,000-square-foot warehouse in South Texas into a processing facility for unaccompanied children in an attempt to to keep up with the high numbers of children crossing the border. 

The new facility will be less than a mile from the busiest Border Patrol station in the country, which is located in the Rio Grande Valley. The facility will include rows of cells with unsecured doors to allow interaction and "play," and boys and girls will be separated. Portable toilets will also be installed in the warehouse. 

"Minors will be staged here until processing is completed and then they (will be) moved to a different location,"  a fire protection engineering analysis stated, which was submitted by the U.S. General Services Administration.

The U.S. General Services Administration signed a one-year lease for the warehouse. 

While it is not clear when the renovations of the building will be completed, city attorney Kevin Pagan said that the permit process has been expedited. 

Most of the children who are crossing the border come from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which are countries plagued with gang violence and poor economies. 

More and more of the children have been purposely turning themselves in to Border Patrol agents in the hopes of being reunited with a guardian in the U.S. while they await trial. 

Johnson penned a letter to Central American parents, warning them of the dangers of the perilous journey, and made it clear that the children can be deported. 

"The criminal smuggling networks that you pay to deliver your child to the United States have no regard for his or her safety and well-being — to them, your child is a commodity to be exchanged for a payment," the letter said.

"There is this disinformation out there that there is a permisos," he said. "That's what we're hearing, permisos, free pass, like you get a piece of paper that says: 'Welcome to the United States. You're free.' That's not the case."

Johnson said that he is considering a "conceivable, lawful option" to address the growing humanitarian issue.  

Many activist groups are also working to address the situation.

Joseph Rendeiro of the National Council of La Raza, a premier immigrants rights group, told Latin Post that NCLR endorsed Senator Robert Menendez's (D-NJ) plan Wednesday, which includes providing financial support for the legal, humanitarian and children's organizations that are championing efforts to help the unaccompanied children. 

"What we're seeing played out here is an urgent international humanitarian issue," Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR, told Latin Post in a statement.

"These are young children fleeing violence and seeking a safe haven. Whether in their own country, in neighboring nations or at the U.S. border, they are refugees and should be treated as such. The idea that some would claim otherwise is a tragic consequence of a needlessly polarized immigration debate," she continued.

"We believe that Senator Bob Menendez's thoughtful plan, which was issued late last week, is an important step forward in addressing this crisis. It calls for, among other things, focusing immediately on the welfare of the children, cracking down on smugglers and a renewed emphasis on fostering social and economic development in the region," Murguia added.

Southwest Key, the largest provider of child welfare services in the nation that is located in Austin, Texas, is also trying to ameliorate the issue by opening five new shelters to serve the child refugees. 

"Our hope now is to get the remaining 3,000 or so kids who are still in border patrol offices into shelters or with an appropriate guardian," Southwest Key President and CEO Juan Sanchez said in a statement.