Sen. Ted Cruz is traveling to the Texas-Mexico border for a firsthand look at a surge of unaccompanied children crossing illegally into the U.S.
Saturday's visit to a Customs and Border Patrol facility in McAllen will be the tea party darling's third trip to his state's southern border since taking office last year. It's the first trip for Cruz since the influx of young immigrants became a national issue.
Cruz visited an immigration facility last month in San Antonio, about 150 miles from the border. He's been a vocal critic of President Barack Obama for failing to visit the Texas-Mexico border.
Sen. John Cornyn, a more-frequent border visitor, was in the Rio Grande Valley community of Mission on Friday.
More than 57,000 unaccompanied child immigrants have been apprehended since October.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.