LOS ANGELES (AP) — Immigration agents assigned to track down people who have ignored deportation orders have increasingly arrested immigrants with criminal records over the last year.
Data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement show a shift from the prior three years, in which more than 70 percent of immigrants arrested by ICE's fugitive operations teams had no criminal histories.
About 45 percent of the 35,000 immigrants arrested by the teams during the 2009 fiscal year had criminal convictions. That's up from 23 percent during the year prior.
ICE chief John Morton has said his agency will focus on getting immigrants with criminal records or have ignored deportation orders, but will also arrest illegal immigrants who are there when agents show up.
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