Tucson, Arizona – In the Sonoran Desert north of Tucson, Arizona, the telltale signs of migrants heading north are scattered beneath shrubby trees and in dried-out stream beds: empty jugs of water, desiccated backpacks, tattered blankets and faded pieces of clothing.
It’s difficult to say how long ago they were left behind. The harsh elements of the desert accelerate the breakdown of clothes and people.
“The conditions are extreme, during the day and the night,” said Francisco, a 30-year-old from southern Mexico who declined to share his last name. “We ran out of food and water on the third day. We drank out of green pools of water on the ground.”
He says his weeklong trek through the desert ended when his group of five people were apprehended and deported by the United States Border Patrol. Sitting in a corridor on the Mexican side of the border city of Nogales, he says he plans to spend the holidays with his family in Mexico before returning to try his luck again in the new year.
Migrants like Francisco are at the heart of a heated general election unfolding in the US.
Both Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump have made tightening immigration a centrepiece of their campaigns in the waning days of the race.
Harris, the current vice president, has pledged additional restrictions on the right to apply for asylum. Meanwhile, Trump, a former president, has announced plans to launch a project of “mass deportation” if he retakes the White House.
Candidates in down-ballot races have echoed their calls for heightened restrictions, too.
But amid the tough talk on the campaign trail, experts say the human cost of such policies is being ignored, often with fatal costs.