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MILWAUKEE (WKOW) -- Sen. Ron Johnson slammed what he described as an 'open border' policy held by the Biden administration during a roundtable he hosted Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Pointing to record-high border apprehension numbers from the U.S. Border Patrol, Johnson said the number of illegal migrant crossings was a crisis, and a threat to Wisconsin mainly because it increased the likelihood of fentanyl continuing to fuel a rise in overdoses.

Critics have pointed to those very numbers -- a recent average of more than 200,000 monthlyborder encounters -- as proof it's misleading for Johnson and other Republicans to claim the current administration has an 'open border' policy.

"You know, what terminology you use, you can't debate numbers," Johnson responded when asked about the criticism. "I mean, we had the border largely under control. You'll never have a 100-percent secure border, but we had it largely under control. Now, it's completely out of control."

Johnson seeks to make immigration a key issue in the high-profile Senate race this fall. The campaign for Johnson's Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, declined to comment for this story.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin pointed to Johnson's vote against a bipartisan immigration bill that passed in 2013 as a sign Johnson was more focused on rhetoric than repairing the country's immigration laws.

Whether its voting against comprehensive immigration reform that would have secured our border and fixed the broken immigration system," party spokesperson Philip Shulman said. "Or protecting big pharmaceutical companies that exploited the opioid epidemic, Ron Johnson isnt serious about keeping our communities safe.

Johnson said Congress should not take up immigration reform until the borders are more secure. His stance was echoed on the panel by Mark Morgan, who served as commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection under the Trump administration, and Brandon Judd, president of the Border Patrol agents union.

"Among the many unfortunate things about what's been happening during this administration is you set back the possibility of immigration reform," Johnson said. "Because the first step in doing so is to secure the border, having a border under reasonable control."

Johnson said while he supports the idea of modernizing the nation's immigration laws, and providing lasting protection to residents who were brought into the U.S. illegally at a young age, known as Dreamers, he would not support legislation on those subjects until stricter border security measures were in place.

Judd said the current issue with security was too many of the migrants caught by patrol agents are under court order to release them, as opposed to deporting them.

"Yes, we still have enforcement on the border," he said. "Yes, agents are still on the border, but what you do with the individuals that cross the border, once they're in our custody, that is the open border policies."

"So, when they cross, and they claim asylum just to be released, we're ultimately rewarding them for violating our laws."

Darryl Morin, president of pro-immigrant group Forward Latino, said the number of migrants waiting in squalor on the Mexican side of the border was proof Johnson and the panelists were disingenuousin arguing illegal immigrants have easy access to the U.S.

Morin argued if Johnson was serious about cutting down on illegal immigration, he'd be a bigger proponent of aid and expanded partnerships with Central American countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

"Everyone knows what needs to be done," Morin said. "But there are those, such as the senator, who prefer to have inflammatory rhetoric that maybe helps them at the polls, rather than actually getting to the root of the problem."

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Sen. Johnson says immigration reform is off the table until border security improves - WKOW