Experts can’t explain the wave of newcomers.
From October 2011 to March 5th the number of unaccompanied Immigrant kids landing in U.S. custody along the border has increased by 93 percent, with over 5,000 of them getting caught coming into the country illegally.
Immigrant Rights Activist Jose Luis Zelaya came into the country illegally from Central America when he was a kid and says the path to the U.S. is fraught with danger.
"One of the things that I experience, I remember on the way here I remember a little girl was physically abused," says Zelaya.
The reason for the surge in children is still a mystery but State Representative Debbie Riddle (R-Tomball) believes it's because our southern border is porous.
"The bottom-line is that this is another reason why we must secure our borders," says Riddle.
Its estimated that three quarters of the kids coming across the border are boys mostly between the age of 14 and 17 years old but some unaccompanied minors as young as 5 years of age have been caught crossing as well.
