Ride-along with border patrol shows harsh reality of current migrant surges

MCCALLEN, Texas (KTRK) -- Congressional republicans, who are visiting the southern border, went to a detention center in the Rio Grande Valley where migrants are being held and they criticized Pres. Joe Biden administration's handling of the situation.

Texas state troopers said they're facing one of the biggest migrant surges they've seen in years. ABC's Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott was with them for a ride-along as they patrolled the waters that divide the U.S. and Mexico.

State troopers said one of their biggest challenges is that there are some parts of the river that are just too shallow to reach by boat and those areas are now being exploited.

A mother and her 5-year-old said their journey has been difficult after going days without food. She said she's desperate to reunite with her husband and son who are already in the U.S.

The mother and daughter met a 17-year-old along the way. He left Guatemala by himself and has been walking to the U.S. for over a month.

Troopers said people like that mother and 5-year-old are absolutely being sent back across the border.

Biden said children traveling alone will not be sent back to their home countries. Republicans said that message is part of the problem.

A group of 18 people going inside an overcrowded border facility in Donna, Texas shared some images of children without beds lying on the floor.

SEE RELATED STORY: Sens. Ted Cruz, John Cornyn lead senate tour to Rio Grande Valley in response to immigration crisis

"They're lying down on the floor," said Cruz, during a border tour he took earlier this week. "They're right next to each other, they're touching each other."

Hundreds of miles away, democrats were holding a border event too, saying former Pres. Donald Trump is to blame.

"President Biden inherited a situation where the previous administration had sought to dismantle system for processing asylum speakers," a democrat said.

SEE RELATED STORY: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee joins congressional Democrats during Texas-Mexico border tour