New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday during a visit to Iowa that he is open to reviewing requests to accept unaccompanied immigrant children into his state.

During his remarks, the Republican governor slammed the Obama administration for the influx of immigrant children from Central America. Since October, over 52,000 children and teenagers have been caught crossing the Southwest border illegally, nearly twice as many as were caught last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"I have great empathy for that situation, but frankly the administration has done an awful job in securing our border, and they need to do that," Christie told reporters after campaigning on behalf of incumbent Gov. Terry Branstad in Marion, reported CNN.

"I don't think ... it matters one bit what your Hispanic population is, as to whether or not you're going to offer help and assistance," he said. "So we'll take every request that comes based on its merits and make those decisions."

He added that as Americans, "We are an empathetic people," who don't "like seeing people suffer." However, he stressed that he doesn't want to "participate in encouraging" immigrants to send their children to the country.

The potential White House contender went on to address the broader issue of immigration policy when asked about a recent Gallup Poll that revealed that Americans are just as frustrated with immigration as the economy and government effectiveness.

"The reason you see the [immigration] numbers up that way is because people know in the United States that the federal government has refused to address this issue in any meaningful way, in both parties," Christie said, according to Fox News Latino.

Christie, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, headlined three fundraisers during his trip to Iowa, including one Thursday evening for Gov. Branstad in Davenport.