"The coyotes are leaving people in debt, and taking their property as payment for the journey," he said in an interview.

Last week, US Customs and Border Protection opened a temporary holding facility for up to 500 people near the Texan border with Mexico, in what it said was a response to a marked uptick in illegal border crossings.

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said earlier this month immigration detention facilities were holding about 10,000 more individuals than usual, after a spike in October of migrants including unaccompanied children, families and asylum seekers.

GANG VIOLENCE

Unemployed and sick of the lack of opportunities and endemic gang violence that blight his poor neighbourhood in the town of San Marcos, south of San Salvador, Carlos Garcia, 25, said he was looking to enter the United States before Trump assumes power.

"There's one thing I'm very clear about," he said. "I want to get out of here."

Guatemalan Fares Revolorio, 27, arrived in the northwestern Mexican border city of Tijuana on Wednesday after a grueling 4,200-kilometer (2,610-mile), week-long trek by bus. She was waiting to cross into the United States, where she hoped to apply for asylum.