Huddled in the sand and surrounded by the discarded shoes, scrunchies and phones of those who came before them, this is the moment a group of Haitians was apprehended by Border Patrol at a remote spot known to migrants as 'The Gap.'
The little-known crossing point near the Arizona city of Yuma is the site of a brewing border crisis that could come to rival the better-known Texas hotspots such as the Rio Grande Valley, and more recently, Del Rio.
The figures alone are stark: the Yuma sector has seen a 2,399.6% spike in arrivals compared to this time last year, with up to 900 people crossing each day.
In August, the most recent month for which figures are available, 17,000 crossed into Yuma compared to just 694 for the same time in 2020.
As a result, Border Patrol facilities are overwhelmed: even the tented overflow camp built in April and designed to hold 500 people is stuffed with 1,300 inmates.
DailyMail.com witnessed groups of migrants from Haiti, Colombia and Honduras crossing and being detained by Border Patrol agents
The vast majority arrive via the Gap – a break in the border fence close to the Morelos Dam which allows an easy crossing of the Colorado River from the town of Los Algodones on the Mexican side
The little-known crossing point near the Arizona city of Yuma is known as 'The Gap' and is the site of a brewing border crisis that could come to rival better-known Texas hotspots such as the Rio Grande Valley
The Yuma sector in Arizona has seen a 2,399.6% spike in arrivals compared to this time last year, with up to 900 people crossing each day
Border Patrol agents are stretched thin over the crisis which has seen a growing number of Haitian, Colombian and Honduran migrants cross into the US
In August, the most recent month for which figures are available, 17,000 crossed into Yuma compared to just 694 for the same time in 2020
Border Patrol agents told DailyMail.com the crossings are 'relentless' and are happening 24 hours a day, seven days a week
The vast majority arrive via The Gap – a break in the border fence close to the Morelos Dam which allows an easy crossing of the Colorado River from the town of Los Algodones on the Mexican side.
Vincent Dulesky of Border Patrol Yuma Station said many of the arrivals come from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador but added they are seeing increasing numbers of Haitians – who made up the majority of new arrivals when DailyMail.com visited.
Known to Haitians as 'le Trou', the migrants told DailyMail.com that word has spread that The Gap is an easy place to cross.
'We had heard of The Gap and people said this is the place to come,' Wendell Fify, 17, said before he was bundled into a Border Patrol van.
He added: 'It's a gap in the fence so we came here. I came to the US because my family are here – my mom and dad. I was in Brazil before. I want to have a life here and work.'
He was accompanied by another Haitian family: Jamal, 37, his wife Bianca, 27, and their daughter Jacquentia, three.
Jamal told DailyMail.com that the family had been living in Chile but decided to travel to The Gap after hearing the border was open.
He said: 'We were in Chile but we heard the border was open so we went to Mexicali and then came here [Yuma].
'We are desperate for a good life for our daughter. We spent all our money to come. It's bad in Haiti – it's dangerous and violent with gangs. We can't live there.'
With them was Colombian Juan Sebastian who was traveling with daughters Martina, 12, and Alyssa, two.
He told DailyMail.com that he had sold all of his possessions to pay for a flight to Tijuana, an onward bus ride to Los Algodones and the $2,000-per-person fee to cross charged by the local cartel smugglers.
Juan Sebastian said: 'I'm here in search of a safe place and a better future for my daughters. It was a difficult thing to do because we had to sell what little we had to get here.'
This comes as Panama's foreign minister warned that another wave of some 60,000 migrants, mostly Haitian nationals, is now headed toward the southern US border.
Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes expressed exasperation during a visit to Washington DC this week, saying that Panama has been warning the Biden administration for months about the recent surge in irregular migration.
'We sounded the alarm when we should have,' Mouynes told Axios. 'We've engaged with every single authority that we can think of, that we can come across, to say, 'Please, let's pay attention to this.''
Known to Haitians as 'le Trou', the migrants told DailyMail.com that word has spread that The Gap is an easy place to cross
Haitian family Jamal, 37, his wife Bianca, 27, and their daughter Jacquentia, three, were seen at the border. Jamal (pictured with his daughter) told DailyMail.com that the family had been living in Chile but decided to travel to The Gap after hearing the border was open
Colombian Juan Sebastian (pictured) was traveling with daughters Martina, 12, and Alyssa, two. He told DailyMail.com that he had sold all of his possessions to pay for a
