WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigration data obtained by The Associated Press shows that huge increases in deportations of people who broke traffic or immigration laws or drove drunk helped the Obama administration set a record last year for the number of criminal immigrants forced to leave.
The U.S. deported nearly 393,000 people in 2010. Half were considered criminals.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement data shows that of those deported, 27,635 were arrested for drunken driving, which was more than double the 10,851 deported for the same crime two years earlier.
Another 13,028 were deported last year after being arrested on less serious traffic violations. That was nearly three times the 4,527 traffic offenders deported in 2008, the last full year of the Bush administration.
Most of the immigrants deported last year had committed drug-related crimes.
