The White House is receiving pressure from both Republicans and immigrant rights advocates to address the immigration crisis on the U.S. border with Mexico.

Over the past few weeks, an influx of undocumented children, mostly from Central America, has been caught trying to sneak into the country through the Southwest border.

Over 52,000 children and teenagers have been caught crossing the Southwest border illegally since October, nearly twice as many as were caught last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Many are trying to reunite with family members and escape gang-infested communities in their native countries. There are also rumors that the children will be allowed to stay in America once they cross the border, The Associated Press reported.

In response to the crisis, Republicans have called on President Barack Obama to quickly deport the truckloads of children being rounded up by Border Patrol each day. However, according to a law passed in 2008 to protect sex trafficking victims, each child must undergo an immigration hearing before they can be deported, a process that usually takes two years. As a result, the government must house the children before they can be sent back to their native countries to prevent minors from being sent home and forced into the sex trade. The law applies to youth who migrate to the country from anywhere other than Mexico or Canada.

"While they wait for that immigration hearing, the law also requires that they be held in the least restrictive custody setting," said Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the Migration Policy Institute's U.S. Immigration Policy Program, according to NPR. "What that means in practice is that most of these kids are getting placed with family members in the U.S. while they wait for an immigration hearing."

Although the White House initially backed Republican demands for speedier deportations, administration officials left that aspect out of their proposal due to backlash from immigrant advocates.

Republicans are also pushing to give the government authority to quickly remove Central American kids unless they convince Border Patrol that they deserve asylum.

However, advocates have strongly objected this idea, arguing that kids would be denied legal protections.

"Now the White House position is less clear," the AP reported.