End of their American dream: Photographer captures despair of illegal immigrants being deported after trying to start a new life

Shackled: Immigrants wait to have handcuffs removed at the Adelanto detention center in California

The experiences of illegal immigrants waiting in deportation centers in Arizona and California have been documented by a photographer.

Photojournalist John Moore has been covering immigration stories in the U.S. since the 2010 introduction of Arizona's controversial law that allowed police to stop anyone they believed may be in the country illegally.

His latest series of photos focus on immigrants, mainly from Mexico and Guatemala, being held in detention centers while they wait for a decision in their case.

Departure: Undocumented Guatemalans are searched before boarding a flight to their home country

Waiting game: In Florence, Arizona, immigrants play cards while waiting for decisions to be made in their cases

At California's Adelanto facility, about 1,100 immigrants are held as they wait for a decision or deportation.

The center is the newest and largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in California, but the ICE holds about 33,000 undocumented workers in more than 400 centers across the U.S.

In a detention center in Mesa, Arizona, the award-winning photographer followed Guatemalans as they were shackled and put on a plane.

Guatemala is second only to Mexico in the number of illegal immigrants deported from the U.S. each year. Flights to Central America leave from Arizona nearly every day, according to the New York Times.

While Mexicans are usually dropped at the border, immigrants who have traveled a dangerous journey from further afield have to be flown back to their home countries.

When Moore was allowed to accompany 100 Guatemalans on the deportation flight, he noted their shoelaces were removed before they boarded the plane.

Detained: Immigrants are kept in a processing cell at Adelanto

Faith: A Muslim from Iran, above and below, prays at the California center as he waits for a decision to be made in his case

Treatment: A dentist gives an immigrant a check up at the new center in California