Deportations from the U.S. rise sharply

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record number of undocumented immigrants and foreign criminal convicts in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, in a bid to reduce the number of illegal migrants in the United States. Nationwide, the agency removed 349,041 foreign nationals, or 20 percent more compared to the 288,663 people deported in fiscal year 2007. A third of those expelled in fiscal year 2008 were criminal convicts. The increase is all the more remarkable compared to the 116,460 removals carried out in 2002.

Arrests of illegal immigrants in North Texas increased 21 percent in the last fiscal year, according to federal immigration officials in Dallas. More than 16,300 people were repatriated to their native countries, compared with 13,500 the previous fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. That pace matched the increase at the national level: 349,041 people were removed by ICE, compared with 288,663 the previous year.