Migrants amass at US-Mexico border, awaiting processing

Hundreds of migrants who cross into the United States from Mexico each day are being herded into open-air camps, where they have no access to food or water.

Campaigners say many will be there for days, waiting to be processed by an immigration system that is overwhelmed by — and under-prepared for — the sheer number of people.

"We were told by border patrol that this is the new normal," Erika Pinheiro, executive director of the non-governmental Al Otro Lado, told AFP in Jacumba, California.

In the Jacumba area, a total daily average of 800 people are in the three camps.

"The migrants are told that they will be deported unless they stay in these camps," Pinheiro said.

"However, Border Patrol is not providing food, water, shelter or medical care. Sanitary facilities are abysmal."

Migrants face intense daytime heat and freezing nights

At this time of year, the daytime desert sun is fierce, but nighttime temperatures can plunge below freezing.

The sites have some tattered tents, but other occupants AFP met this week huddled around fires for warmth, feeding them with scrappy branches they found nearby.

There were two dirty portable toilets which must be shared by women, men and children alike.

US Border Patrol officials who visit the camps distribute colored bracelets indicating the day on which a migrant first made contact.

These bracelets determine the order in which the wearers are allowed to board infrequent buses to the processing centers.

Several migrants told reporters they had been there for a number of days despite the harsh conditions and uncertainty, many of those in the camps quietly endure.

Carla Morocho said she is eight months pregnant and has no regrets about the arduous and dangerous journey she took to escape Ecuador, because she knows her child will have a better life in the US.

I don't want her to suffer like I do. I have suffered," she said, huddled with her husband near a bonfire.