Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) The Department of Homeland Security says that fewer immigrants were deported over the last year than at any time since 2006.
It’s the lowest amount of deportations since President Obama took office.
231,000 immigrants were deported in the last 12 months and 59 percent of them are convicted criminals.
The total number of deportations is down 42 percent from three years ago.
The figures do not account for people caught by U.S. Border Patrol at the Mexican border and immediately turned around.
Homeland Security attributes the decline to a decrease in Mexican immigrants and an increase in immigrants from other countries.
Customs Enforcement can send Mexican immigrants back across the border, but has to send people from other countries home by plane in a process that is usually more expensive and time consuming.
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