REVEALED: The busiest border flashpoints being flooded by migrants - as agents desperately try to track down thousands of 'gotaways'

America is facing the 'worst border security crisis' in its history - with states from Texas to New York close to their breaking points amid a surge in migrant crossings. 

But the busiest border flashpoints can change overnight - and as fast as one area is contained, a new 'ground zero' crops up. 

Since the beginning of the year, Texas hot zones that had been the epicenters of the border crisis, have quieted down - with traffic instead ramping up in California and Arizona. 

Here DailyMail.com investigates the four migrant crossing spots that have caused the most havoc for Border Patrol agents - and how trends in each sector have shifted.

Tucson Sector

Ground zero is currently in the Tucson sector, which includes all of the Arizona-Mexico boundary, except for the Yuma area. 

A staggering 300,063 migrants have been arrested by Border Patrol from October to February, according to the US Border Patrol.

In the first six months of this fiscal year, the number of migrants coming through Southern Arizona will nearly match the 373,625 migrants who crossed through there in 2023.

In all of 2022, Tucson sector saw 251,984 encounters.

These days, agents there are conducting between 9,000 and 12,000 migrant arrests per week.

The influx is due in large part to crossings at two locations: Lukeville and the Tohono Oʼodham Nation.

Given that it's an independent nation, Border Patrol agents have a limited presence on Native American soil.

Additionally, there is no border wall on the reservation - a crucial factor since this is a land crossing.

Unlike Texas, where the fierce Rio Grand river that separates the US and Mexico acts as a natural barrier, in the Grand Canyon state, only the steel wall built by previous administrations stops people. 

In the Tucson section, the border wall built by the US government ends where Native American reservation begins. The Tohono Oʼodham Nation has not allowed a barrier to be built on its land, allowing migrants easy entry into the country. On this reservation, the media is not allowed either

A photo of San Miguel Gate on the Tohono Oʼodham nation has become a popular crossing spot, says the National Border Patrol Council

Migrants who are being smuggled into the country and have no intention of being caught often step over a low fence to get into the US through that land. 

'The (Tohono Oʼodham) reservation is the #1 area for got aways,' Border Patrol union vice president Art Del Cueto explained. 

So called 'gotaways' are the migrants that keep federal officials up at night, since those are illegal immigrants the Border Patrol knows came into the country, but were unable to take into custody. 

Recently, migrants have been crossing at San Miguel Gate. 

'This is a birds eye view of the San Miguel Gate and the insanity that continues to happen on the Tohono O'odham Nation,' Del Cueto shared online. 

'There were many trees and vegetation in this area just a month ago. Now it’s all gone, due to the bonfires the groups that cross continue to make. 

'Our heroes in green in this area continue to do the work with limited resources. Limited media access allows this to happen because the American public doesn’t see this daily occurrence.'

Border Patrol agents track down a group of illegal immigrants in the Tucson sector

US Border Patrol sectors on the southern border of the US are shown in the map above

The number of migrant crossings in the Tucson region has exploded, compared to the numbers from last year

In remote Lukeville, just outside the reservation, federal agents see what they call 'give ups,' migrants who make illegal entry and immediately look for a Border Patrol agent so they can surrender to them and make an asylum claim.

Here, migrants pay Mexican smugglers to be shown holes and openings in the border wall where they can easily squeeze or even walk through. 

Most migrants crossing here are Mexican, Venezuelans and Guatemalans, according to federal statistics. 

About two-thirds are single adults. 

Del Rio Sector  

Del Rio Sector is the second top migrant hot spot in the nation and the busiest in Texas, however the numbers are a bit misleading. 

Since 2021, Del Rio has either been the number one spot in the country or number two for border encounters.

It started the fiscal year with the most crossings in the US, getting 23,000 migrants in one week of December alone. 

However, those numbers have plummeted in recent months, with migrant encounters dropping to about 3,000 a week, US Border Patrol reports show.

A legal and political standoff in Eagle Pass, located in the Del Rio Sector, might have also had an impact.

In January, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seized a city park where migrants had been wading in large numbers across the river that separates the US and Mexico because the water was low there.

Abbott also kicked out US Border Patrol agents from Shelby Park, claiming the federal government was not doing enough to stop illegal entries. 

The Republican governor reinforced the 2.5 miles of land he commandeer - stopping nearly all the migrants from crossing in that particular spot.

However, his actions simply pushed migrants out to other crossings in more rural areas. 

Most border experts believe Abbott's actions did have an impact on crossings, but Mexican cartels have the ultimate say over where migrants cross.

Anytime one part of the border is reinforced, human smugglers will move migrants to less fortified parts, which is why you see a constant Whac-A-Mole effect on the border. Today's hot spot may be forgotten by tomorrow. 

Here, Venezuelans are the top nationality, followed by Hondurans and Mexicans.

So far this year, there have been at least 183,025 migrant encounters.

San Diego Sector

San Diego Sector is poised to overtake Del Rio later this year, as migrant crossings soar in Southern California.

It is seeing 7,500 to 8,389 apprehensions a week and is the third overall busiest.

San Diego sector has had 151,686 migrant arrest in the first six months of the fiscal year. 

'With +20K of them being from China (a more than 500% increase compared to last FYTD,)' tweeted the chief of the agency Jason Owens.

Unlike other parts of the border, migrants here come from all over the world.

Agents regularly see border crossers from over 70 countries, according to the department.

This is where Chinese migrants have been arriving in record numbers.

Many had been coming in through Jacumba, a tiny town about an hour east of San Diego. But that's stopped in recent weeks, as DailyMail.com was first to report, as the Mexican military has beefed up patrols on the south side of the border wall. 

Many of the foreigners in this region are not trying to outrun authorities.

Instead they're 'give ups' and asylum seekers. 

In fact, the San Ysidro Port of Entry sees the most CBP One App appointments across the border. 

The app, started under the Trump Administration and expanded by President Joe Biden, is the legal way from migrants to make an asylum claim.

Anyone seeking to use the app must be in Northern Mexico and can submit an appointment request. 

Those who are granted appointments undergo vetting and an in-person appointment at an international port of entry, in many cases, an international bridge between the US and Mexico with US Customs and Border Protection officers. 

About 475 migrants with appointments cross from Tijuana into San Diego daily, David Pérez Tejada, head of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration in Baja California told the Border Report. 

Since May of last year, more than 150,000 asylum-seekers have legally entered the US through this port of entry.

El Paso Sector 

In a wild and chaotic scene, a group of 600 migrants stormed the border wall Thursday in El Paso, Texas.

About a dozen 'ringleaders' had been scheming since Wednesday to rush Texas soldiers who were preventing migrants from surrendering to federal authorities.

By Thursday morning, the troublemakers charged Texas National Guard troops, with hundreds of others, and pushed back law enforcement, some getting in altercations with law enforcement.

Federal prosecutors said those who planned the riot would face charges, including one who assaulted a soldier. 

El Paso was once the epicenter of the migrant crisis from October 2022 through the first part of 2023.

These days, agents are stopping some 900 to 1,000 migrants a day, but the vast majority are trying to sneak into the country.

Gone are the thousands of migrants who lined up at the border wall for hours for the opportunity to begin an asylum case.

The El Paso sector, which includes Texas' sixth largest city and all of New Mexico, has seen a shift in activity. 

Most of the action is now west of El Paso, where Texas and New Mexico meet and smugglers ready migrants who hope to avoid authorities all together.

Map of El Paso, Texas and nearby New Mexico shows where illegal human smuggling is taking place

In Santa Teresa New Mexico, just a few miles outside El Paso, migrants who make it over the border wall have about a mile sprint to the nearest highway.

From there, smugglers in waiting vehicles pick them up - if they make it.

From the air, law enforcement watch for migrants from helicopters. 

Thursday morning, a CBP helicopter spotted a group of illegal immigrants running to meet with a smuggler and swooped in, corralling them and landing so an agent in the Black Hawk could arrest them, a video shared by local politician Claudia Rodriquez shows.

Car chases are common in West Texas, with Texas DPS trying to stop vehicles loaded with illegals. Many stash houses where migrants are housed until they can be moved further into US have also been busted. 

Single adults and Mexican citizens are top groups crossing. El Paso has also seen people using the city's sewer system in an attempt to sneak into the country.  

Border Patrol has taken 95,00 migrants into custody in El Paso sector so far this year. Separately, El Paso has also seen an additional 30,000 migrants using CBP One to enter the country legally

El Paso has also seen people using the city's sewer system in an attempt to sneak into the country

Due to low numbers, migrants can be held for longer so many are fearful of interviews used to determine if they meet the threshold for asylum. Those who don't are deported from the US.  

Border Patrol has taken 119,905 migrants into custody in El Paso sector so far this year.

Separately, El Paso has also seen an additional 37,581 migrants using CBP One to enter the country legally.