Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyIt's the impact of illegal immigration rarely talked about.
One look at pictures from the southern Arizona desert shows human smugglers and immigrants turning the desert into a wasteland.
If you look close, between the heavy brush and trees, you will find mounds and mounds of trash.
"There are thousands of these lay-up spots all across southern Arizona," said Border Patrol Agent Mike Scioli.
According to agents, these 'lay-up' sites are a result of human smuggling.
Foot guides lead immigrants from the border to secluded areas in the southern Arizona desert.
Scioli said immigrants wait there for another foot guide to take them further north, or they're waiting for smuggling vehicles to carry them into the city of Phoenix.
While they wait, they litter; empty water bottles, plastic jugs and bags, aluminum cans, dirty diapers, clothes, shoe - you name it!
"The desert looks harsh and tough," said Rob Smith, Southwest Regional Director for the Sierra Club. "But, in fact, it's pretty delicate and there are a lot of creatures out there."
They are creatures, environmentalists said, that can eat or get caught in plastic bags, which can be deadly.
Smugglers' abandoned vehicles can contaminate the soil and ground water if they leak oil or other fluids.
Plastic water bottles and aluminum cans aren't bio-degradable, so they can stick around for decades.
An investigation by ABC15 found that these trash-filled lay-up sites start close to the border and can be found so far north that they nearly touch the Valley, just south of Chandler.
At this time, there isn't legislation in place to clean these up. The dirty work is left to concerned citizens who volunteer.
State representative Warde Nichols has seen the devastation from lay up sites first hand, in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge along the border.
Before the border fence was built, volunteers would collect 500 tons of trash each year.
"It's one of the most shocking things I've ever seen," said Nichols.
Right now, he says the state doesn't have the money to clean up lay-up sites.
Nichols said it won't, until the border is secure and foot traffic has been stopped whether from a completed border fence or immigration reform.
"I believe at that point we can say, OK we're going to get in and actively clean these areas up and actively patrol them, " said Nichols. "And, let the environment and wildlife come back.
Until then, experts believe lay-up sites will continue to grow, endangering our fragile desert eco-system.
