In a move that is bound to upset immigration activists, President Obama is asking Congress for more than $2 billion dollars in order to stem the tide of undocumented immigrants illegally entering the United States through south Texas border areas.

According to a White House spokesperson, Obama is also asking for "new powers" for returning youth who are traveling alone back to their parents.

In a letter to Congress on Monday, Obama is also asking for increased penalties for any person who smuggles immigrants -- or coyotes, as their commonly known among immigrants -- who are vulnerable, such as the youth who are streaming across the borders in record numbers. 

The letter, addressed to House Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, President Obama states that "the emergency money would be used for, among other things, "an aggressive deterrence strategy focused on the removal and repatriation of recent border crossers."

"This includes fulfilling our legal and moral obligation to make sure we appropriately care for unaccompanied children who are apprehended, while taking aggressive steps to surge resources to our Southwest border to deter both adults and children from this dangerous journey, increase capacity for enforcement and removal proceedings, and quickly return unlawful migrants to their home countries," the letter continued.

President Obama's request to Congress is part of the administration's response to to what they are calling a "humanitarian crisis." With violence and poverty plaguing many of the Central American nations, a record number of undocumented immigrants are making the dangerous trek across U.S. borders, and many of them are unaccompanied children.

Over 50,000 children have crossed into the United States this year alone, and the numbers are expected to rise. Critics attribute this influx to an unclear policy on youth immigrants, as well as perceived loopholes in the immigration system.

The Obama administration has been on a campaign to clear up misconceptions about the U.S. immigration policy in recent weeks, with Vice President Joe Biden traveling to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador in an effort to meet with the nation's leaders to address the issue.

The result of the mass Central American exodus is causing overcrowding in immigration detention centers and long waits for case processing, as well as a number of other issues. 

Advocacy groups are already speaking out against the administration's bid for funding, saying that President Obama is asking Congress to "change the law" and calling the move "unconscionable."