Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about the increasing number of unaccompanied children crossing into the United States in separate interviews on CNN and Fox News Tuesday. 

During the interviews, which were part of a promotional tour for her new book, "Hard Choices," Clinton explained her opinion about what should be done regarding the issue of unaccompanied minors making the dangerous journey across the border. 

According to Fox News Latino, CNN's Christiane Amanpour asked Clinton what strategy she would employ if she were president to curb the growing immigration crisis. 

Clinton first touched upon the cause of the surge in unaccompanied immigrant children crossing the border.

She said the "main reason" why there's an increase in minors crossing the border is because "the violence in (...) those Central American countries is increasing dramatically." She also said the U.S. needs to help Mexico secure its southern border. 

Amanpour pressed Clinton again on the issue. "Should they be able to stay here?" said Amanpour. "It's safer."

"It may be safer, but that's not the answer," Clinton responded. 

Amanpour then suggested that Clinton was insinuating that the children should be sent back to their home countries. 

"They should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who responsible adults in their families are," Clinton said. 

She added that the U.S. should send a "clear message" so more children do not attempt the perilous journey across the border. 

"Just because your child gets across the border, that doesn't mean the child gets to stay... We don't want to send a message that is contrary to our laws, or we'll encourage more children to make that dangerous journey," she said. 

Clinton's views may be considered controversial by immigrant rights groups that are against sending children back to their home countries, which are deemed hazardous and politically unstable. 

According to USA Today, the number of unaccompanied immigrant children crossing the border has risen from 13,625 in 2012 to 24,668 in 2013. This year, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has counted more than 42,000 unaccompanied minors crossing the border. 

The children mostly travel from Mexico, but also hail from Central American countries like El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Officials in the Obama administration have said that children are fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty.

However, some conservative lawmakers think that U.S. policy is to blame for the surge in unaccompanied minors, as the U.S. allows the children to be released to an adult relative living in the United States while they await their court hearing. The only exception are Mexican minors, who are returned to Mexico due to an agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. 

Another growing trend is that more children do not try to sneak into the country undetected; many minors wait out in the open to be arrested by Border Patrol agents.

The unaccompanied minors arrive with a paper that contains information from their home country and the name of their U.S. contact. 

Chris Cabrera, a McAllen-based Border Patrol agent and vice president of the local chapter of the National Border Patrol Council, said that immigrant minors are allowing authorities to decide their future. 

"We're seeing record numbers of children coming across. We're dealing with so many of them turning themselves in that it makes it hard for our agents to focus on anything else," he told USA Today. 

The rising number of unaccompanied youth is a strain on immigration facilities. In South Texas, which sees the highest number of minors crossing the border, more than 1,600 youths have taken up all of the spots in 13 shelters. Federal agents have been forced to open temporary facilities in California and Oklahoma to house the children. 

The minors stay an average of 33 days at shelters before they are reunited with a relative in the U.S. However, many are not released so readily, and some children struggle to prove that they are fleeing gang violence in their home country and have a parent or guardian waiting for them in the United States. 

Stacie Blake, the Director of Government and Community Relations for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, told The Latin Post that most children fear returning to unstable, dangerous environments that are plagued by drug cartel activity and gang violence. 

"Unaccompanied immigrant children have always come to the U.S. What has changed is a dramatic increase in the number of children from these particular countries," Blake said. "Children tell us they are literally running for their lives. They are trying to escape violence."

Blake said that children are turning themselves in to authorities in order to receive protection. 

"Many have barely survived a treacherous journey from their country on foot, on La Bestia and at the mercy of strangers or worse, traffickers," she said. 

While the children are in need of protection, Cabrera says the children are exploiting the U.S. immigration system. 

"It's a loophole they've found in the system," Cabrera said. "And, frankly, they're exploiting it well."

Lawmakers in Washington are unsure how to handle the burgeoning crisis.

Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Guatemala Friday to meet with Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, along with Salvadoran and Honduran officials, to discuss the issue and consider potential solutions. 

Blake said the implemention of effective solutions is of the utmost importance. 

"We need to work in regional and multilateral approaches to address the root causes," Blake said, but stated that "the priority is to first focus on protection for these children."