SEATTLE (AP) — New federal data shows the number of deportations of illegal immigrants from Washington, Oregon and Alaska dropped by nearly nine percent during the last fiscal year.
But deportations of immigrants who the government considered convicted criminals continue to rise.
The new data released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows spans from October 1, 2009, to September 30, 2010. It shows that 9,833 people were deported from the Pacific Northwest — the second year in a row overall removals have dropped in the region.
Forty-eight percent of the immigrants removed were considered convicted criminals by the government. Since 2007, the number of deportation in the Pacific Northwest of immigrants with criminal records has doubled, from 2,302 to 4,714 in 2010.
Nationwide, more than 392,000 people were removed from the country.
