In a surprisingly candid response to questions about the Central American immigration crisis, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says that his state will welcome -- and help -- immigrant children.

During a visit to Iowa on Thursday, Gov. Christie responded to reporter inquiries, stating that he would consider requests to help unaccompanied immigrant children who come to New Jersey.

"I have great empathy for that situation," Christie said.

He did clarify during that speech that he would not actively families to send the unaccompanied immigrant youth to his state, however.

"We'll take every request that comes based on its merits and make those decisions," he continued. "We don't like to see people suffer."

Although Governor Christie was quite forthcoming Thursday night with his thoughts on the humanitarian crisis, in which over 90,000 unaccompanied youth are expected to cross U.S. borders this year alone, he has evaded the question when asked previously.

While Christie offered his state's help, he played it safe on the broader issue of immigration policy.

"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.

He did however blame the Obama administration for failing to resolve the border issues.

Christie's statement comes on the heels of a number of refusals or protests of the Central American immigrants, who are being transported to facilities outside of Texas.

The south Texas border has been hardest hit by the crisis, with detention centers and holding facilities severely overcrowded.

Efforts to alleviate the overcrowding have been met with roadblocks by protesters in Murietta, CA, and protesters in other states have vowed to do the same. 

Even Texas cities are refusing the transfers, with areas near Houston turning away the immigrants or refusing to offer up facilities.