SAN JUAN – The chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said backlogs in immigration courts and with asylum claims are setting back deportations by years.

DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen toured the border in the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday.

She said immigration court cases are taking an average of nearly two years to complete. According to her, an “explosion” in asylum claims is also causing more work for immigration officers.

“These backlogs make it difficult not only to remove illegal aliens in an expeditious manner but to focus on those who are truly seeking asylum,” she briefed at a press conference held Wednesday afternoon.

Nielsen said she welcomes decisions by the Department of Justice to hire hundreds of new prosecutors.

In addition, she said Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be hiring 1,000 new attorneys and 10,000 officers.