EXCLUSIVE: You were only six miles from witnessing the crisis, Kamala: As the VP posed up in El Paso border agents were hunting down migrants under trailers, desert rocks and mountain ravines in Sunland Park, NM, where 9,000 cross each month

Just six miles from where Kamala Harris and her motorcade made her whistle-stop trip to the US-Mexican border after 93 days as 'border czar - all hell breaks loose on a daily basis.

Welcome to Sunland Park, New Mexico, where authorities play an almost farcical - and sometimes deadly - game of cat and mouse with the 9,000 illegal immigrants crossing this narrow access point through mountains and desert on a monthly basis.

The action starts early in the day and continues with Border Patrol agents chasing migrants hiding under trailer houses, desert rocks, bushes, mountain ravines and wrecked trucks.

Everywhere, frantic groups of up to 20 migrants dash around this small community, knocking on doors, hiding in bins, asking for food – even a hiding place from Border Patrol inside a home.

It is the kind of scene that Vice President and 'border czar' Harris could easily have witnessed if she'd stayed more than four hours in the El Paso area of Texas last Friday.

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DailyMail.com joined Border Patrol agents in Sunland Park, New Mexico, where officials are playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the 9,000 migrants illegally crossing into the US through narrow access points every month

Border officials apprehended a group of migrants who gave chase as they tried to cross into the US early Saturday morning

In a frantic two-hour early-morning period, Dailymail.com witnessed the astonishing hide-and-seek battle between migrants and Border Patrol agents amid the desert and scrub

Dailymail.com visited Sunland Park to witness the security and humanitarian crisis at the border firsthand.

We arrived at 5:15am and a little while later, in the thin orange light of early dawn, spotted shadowy figures moving swiftly across open dusty ground.

The group of two young women and a man tried to appear unhurried, yet their increasing pace was their first giveaway.

Suddenly, one looked around, spotted something – and they all started to run.

Less than 100 yards away, a parked Border Patrol pick-up truck sprang into action, its lights blazing as it sped to intercept the running group heading for cover among industrial buildings.

For a moment they were out of sight, while border agents scrambled out of their vehicle and combed the area. Within a minute, the chase was over.

A group of women were discovered hiding in the back of an open truck trailer and a man in a dumpster.

They emerged with resignation, but without a murmur of protest. For them it was the beginning of a legal process to see if they can remain in the United States – or be sent back to their home country.

For the Border Patrol agents, it was merely the beginning of another frenzied day in this small community on the frontline of the migrant crisis that is now seeing at least 180,000 illegal border crossings a month.

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Sunland Park lies slap bang next to one of the most imposing sections of the border wall.

It is up to 34ft high here and snakes off into the far distance in mountainous and desert terrain, where the summer heat is punishing.

On the other side of the wall are the shanty outer reaches of Juarez, Mexico, rated the world's third most murderous city by population because of cartel executions. The steel barrier at this point is more of a see-through fence.

The vice president met officials and migrant children on her visit before jetting off to Los Angeles.

Migrants crossing into Sunland Park make a somewhat more dangerous trip. Whatever the rights or wrongs of their journey, it can be a killer.

In just a four-mile wide section here, seven migrants have died trying to cross mountains or the desert into the US in the past month, Dailymail.com can reveal.

One was a 34-year-old woman, and most succumbed to heat exhaustion in temperatures up to 110F.

But the extraordinary dangers of the journey show no sign of deterring the thousands from central and south America now surging through this small pinch point of possible access.

Later that morning, a group of at least six men were discovered hiding near a remote home in the desert. They were ordered to raise their arms as they were led away from their hiding place

The men are seen holding their arms over their heads as they followed officers to the Border Patrol truck

Many of the migrants detained during Saturday's operation were young women from Central American countries such as Honduras and Guatemala

Once they are apprehended, they are all told to sit down and are given water, a Covid mask, and treated with respect by the Border Patrol agents

In a frantic two-hour early-morning period, Dailymail.com witnessed the astonishing hide-and-seek battle between migrants and Border Patrol agents amid the desert and scrub.

Some risk trekking up the imposing Mount Cristo Rey from the Mexican side and descending down close to Sunland Park's poor Anapra area, before waiting for the right moment to break cover from the desert below.

Others trudge the sands in Mexico under an unrelenting sun and hope to get through a gap where the wall stops as it butts on to Cristo Rey. They, too, go to ground, waiting for their chance to break out undetected.

Most delay until daybreak for the final move because of the dangers of navigating the terrain in the dark.

Within an hour of us being in Sunland Park, we witnessed that full-scale breakout.

By 6:15am the whole area was dominated by sirens and flashing lights from Border Patrol vehicles criss-crossing roads and desert tracks amid reports of migrants popping up everywhere.

Groups of men were laying low under trailer homes occupied by families, while many more still were hiding under the small bushes dotted closely together in the sand. Others were reported at a nearby school.

A helicopter constantly clattered and circled overhead as a spotter and coordinator for the border agents, many of them now on foot collecting up the migrants.

One officer used a dog to discover jobless taxi driver Andres Albero, 28, from Ecuador, and brother Marcelo, 21, hiding under a large bush.

According to local police chief Javier Guerra those who are rounded up are considered to be the lucky ones since they are no longer facing the extraordinary dangers of the journey

All migrants were patted down and searched before being loaded on to the back of a US Customs and Border Protection vehicle

A group of migrants are seen sitting inside a Border Patrol vehicle as agents work to apprehend those crossing illegally into the United States from Mexico in Sunland Park, New Mexico

For most migrants, getting caught is just the beginning of the lengthy legal process that will determined if they can remain in the United States or be sent back to their home country

The dejected pair were led off with a friend to sit down on a sandy bank, their shoelaces removed to hamper any attempt to flee.

Andres told Dailymail.com: 'We were 13 days in Mexico and when we got over the border here I ran. But we had to hide.

'My situation in Ecuador is crazy. There is no work and I need to live, man. I left my wife Alexandra and my little boy who is six months old.

'I am coming her for a better life, I need work. This country is the best. I didn't come over the wall, I went a different route.'

Nearby a group of at least six men were ordered to raise their arms as they were led away from their hiding place near a desert home. Border officers told them to sit down by their truck and remove their laces.

All of them had passports and cell phones. These were taken by the agents who scrutinized them before handing them back with a clear plastic bag for the items to be carried openly by the migrants.

Meanwhile, radio chatter linking the growing number of Border Patrol vehicles was constant.

Javier Guerra, the police chief in Sunland Park, New Mexico, gives a tour of the border fence and areas in which migrants cross

Sunland Park lies next to one of the most imposing sections of the border where the wall reaches 34ft and snakes off into the far distance in mountainous and desert terrain/ On the other side are the shanty outer reaches of Juarez, Mexico where the steel barrier at this point is more of a see-through fence

Guerra looks over the border at a man who may be a spotter on the Mexican side as he gives a tour of the border fence and areas in which migrants cross

Rat-a-tat messages included:

'There's a group over by the water tank.'

'I'm going to check out a child.'

'We've got another one making a run for it. Keep going.'

'There are a copy of bodies over at Spring Canyon in the brush. Maybe four.'

And one referring to BP vans being used to transport groups of migrants to holding centers: 'Yeah, his van is full'

One rushed agent told Dailymail.com: 'We can get 300 migrants in a day sometimes, and this is shaping up to be one of those days.'

Another told us: 'This just doesn't stop, and it's tough.'

By 7am there are clusters of migrants being held in various areas.

They are all told to sit down and are given water, a Covid mask, and treated with respect by the Border Patrol agents. Within a few minutes, some officers are exchanging laughs with the groups.

DailyMail.com witnessed officials rounding up a mother and her nine-year-old daughter. The mom, Sylvia said she and her daughter Alexandra had traveled from El Salvador, but would not say why she brought her along on the dangerous journey

The mother and daughter waited patiently in line with other women as they were processed, before entering the cage of a Border Patrol van. All the women were searched, although little Alexandra was not

Guerra said most of their 911 calls come from residents complaining that migrants are running into their yards or knocking on the door for food and water

One officer used a dog to discover jobless taxi driver Andres Albero, 28 from Ecuador, and his brother hiding under a large bush

Many are young women from countries such as Honduras and Guatemala. And we saw one confused and anxious-looking child rounded up with her mother.

The mom, Sylvia, told Dailymail.com that her daughter Alexandra was just nine years old. She said they had traveled from El Salvador, but would not say why she brought Alexandra with her.

The mother and daughter waited patiently in line with other women as they were processed, before entering the cage of a Border Patrol van.

All the women were searched, although little Alexandra was not. After getting into the van, she turned around for a sad last look outside.

Local police chief Javier Guerra would consider those rounded up to be the lucky ones since they are no longer in harm's way.

He and his 21 other officers in Sunland Park Police Department are facing a harrowing battle as more illegal migrants are dying or need urgent rescue on his patch.

The journey into the US is a long and treacherous one, but the extraordinary dangers are not enough to deter the thousands from central and south America coming in every day

DailyMail.com can also reveal that seven migrants have died this month trying to cross mountainous and desert terrain, where the summer heat is punishing

Most have suffered heat exhaustion, some have fallen down ravines on the mountain, while another fell off the top of the border wall and killed himself.

Chief Guerra, a former US Marshall, told Dailymail.com: 'Just here, we have found seven dead bodies in four weeks and most are heat-related deaths.

'One of them was a 23-year-old kid who went into cardiac arrest. My police officers tried to keep him alive but unfortunately by the time the ambulance arrived he succumbed to the heat.

'We had a female as well, a 35-year-old and from Mexico. We suspect she actually fell to her death after losing her footing beside a ravine at night.

'They are coming across where the border fence meets the mountain, where there is effectively an opening. We also suspect there are two houses right by the wall on the Mexican side that are stash houses, holding people ready to move. You can see them through the fence.

'The mountain is also a favorite route. Migrants can hide up there for days before trying to come down.'

The veteran cop added: 'Dehydration is the killer for most of them. Although we had a guy fall from the border wall after he got stuck at the top. He went down headfirst, hit his head, got up, stumbled and went over an embankment. And then hit his head again and died.

'The latest body that we found was a week ago, an individual I believe from Guatemala, and you could tell he had been dead two or three days. His body was scorched with the heat.

Vice President Kamala Harris landed in El Paso, Texas, on Friday morning to visit a border facility, 93 days after the Biden administration put her in charge of the migrant crisis and amid criticism she has avoided the epicenter of the crisis

Harris' trip has already faced criticism because she is going to El Paso and not the Rio Grande, which is where a large majority of the crossings take place. She is also avoiding the migrant processing center at Fort Bliss, where children have to be monitored for self-harm, panic attacks and escape attempts

'Any given morning at 6 you will see the Border Patrol helicopter hovering. Once you see that hovering you know there are people down there. There are people who are either trapped, or making their way over. It is like a cat and mouse game. Sad to say that, but it is what it is.'

Chief Guerra described the frequent mayhem on his patch, saying: 'In all the Border Patrol El Paso sector, nearly 70 per cent of the captures are in our four-mile span. Last month there were 13,000 in the BP area, about 9,000 of those right here.

'A lot of our 911 calls are from citizens who tell us that people are running behind their yards, into their yards, under their trailer houses, or coming to their houses or knocking on the door for food and water, even asking if they can hide them from Border Patrol.

'The migrants try to hide in places that you can only imagine, beneath houses, under rocks, under brush. You look at the terrain and you see a bush. And there could be people under it. They crawl underneath that bush and hide there for hours.

'Today, a woman got stuck on top of the border fence right here, around 10am and my officers got her down. And I responded this morning to a call in Elena Park because my guys were tied up with the woman.

Harris speaks with Gloria Chavez, Chief Patrol Agent of the El Paso Sector

When asked why she chose now to visit, she said: 'Well, it's not my first trip. I've come to the border many times. I said back in March I was going to come to the border so this is not a new plan'

Harris is visiting the El Paso processing center during her border trip. According to Border Patrol statistics, the Rio Grande Valley has seen nearly two-and-a-half times more illegal crossings than in El Paso

'A call comes in, a caller dialed 911 and there are people running in the park. I get there and there are five migrants.

'In all we ended up dealing with 22 people. We see them, we stop them, and we have to call Border Patrol because we can't ask them what their citizenship is. But we ask for an ID because we don't know who they are and it is a public safety issue.'

He also revealed that the cartels are now recruiting teenagers as young as 13 to help them move illegal migrants on the US side of the border.

The chief said: 'They use kids between 13 and 17 to transport illegal aliens and start them on $300 going all the way to $1,500. This is something we have discovered only in recent weeks. The kids are recruited because they are juveniles and if they are caught they are not going to prison. They use their parent's cars.

Chief Guerra emphasized his role is not immigration enforcement. And he revealed he has sympathy for the migrants – because his mother was an illegal immigrant from Mexico.

He said: 'We are going all over the place constantly, like fighting little fires everywhere. For us it's public safety, number one, and also humanitarian aid. You see these poor people, they are so desperate and you feel sorry for them.

'I come from a family where my mother was here illegally for many years. I witnessed my uncles being arrested by Border Patrol when I was a little boy back in the early 60s. So I understand, first hand. But there is a legal way to come to this country.'

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

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