Watch: Dramatic, dangerous migrant crossings into the US

A dramatic footage released by the US Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday showed several small children crying as smugglers tried to help adults and children get through a hole in a border fence that passed through a water-filled channel.

Phoenix: As sirens wail in the background, migrant smugglers push adults and children through a hole beneath a border wall despite an officer's demands on the other side that they return to Mexico.

Videos released by the US Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday show how dramatic and dangerous migrant crossings into the US can be when involving small children.

The videos have come to light amid a surge of migrant families arriving at the border, overwhelming processing and holding centers.

A record number of families crossed into the US in recent months, resulting in the expansion of what President Donald Trump calls "catch and release" — freeing people the system simply can't deal with.

Since December 21, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has freed more than 125,000 people into the US who came into the country as families.

In one newly released video, several small children cry as smugglers try to help adults and children get through a hole in a border fence that passes through a water-filled channel.

Text included with the December 22 video says Mexican authorities responded and were able to stop the smuggling attempt that saw the children being carried through the water.

It says one woman who was encouraged to return to her family on the Mexico side stayed in the US and surrendered to Border Patrol agents.

At Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, president Connie Phillips says she can't imagine the experience.

"People tell us that they come here because they are fleeing threats for their children, to themselves," she said. "They've seen family members kidnapped and killed."