From the slums of Central America to close-knit migrant communities in US cities, Trump’s rise to the front of the Republican pack has not gone unnoticed and is partly behind a spike in the numbers of migrants trying to enter the country, including children travelling without guardians.

Interviews with migrants, people smugglers and officials show many migrants are trying to cross now instead of facing tighter policing and new policies to halt illegal immigration if Trump or another Republican wins the November 8 election.

“If Trump wins, we’re all screwed and all Latinos are screwed,” Isaias Franco, a 46-year-old from El Salvador who was deported from the United States late last year and is now trying to get back, said at a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows 150,304 migrants were detained trying to cross the US-Mexico border between October and February, up 24 percent from the same period last year.