DALLAS, Texas (1080 KRLD) – “It’s certainly a critical situation,” says Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) “Because if you’re just looking at the lower Rio Grande Valley we’re getting about 1,200 people a day. Over 70 percent of them are not from Mexico but from other places and 300 to 400 of them are young people coming in without parents.”

Cuellar says the major influx of illegal immigrants is also putting a major strain on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “Almost 40 percent of the Border Patrol Agents are not at the border they’re actually filling out paperwork, transporting, feeding, moving these folks around. ”

Another factor that’s increasing the amount of illegal immigrants trying to reach the border is a rumor among Central Americans that if they reach the United States with young children they will get to stay.