Border Towns Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration
Angeeneh Adamain- KFOX News Reporter

UPDATED: 9:01 pm MST November 11, 2007


EL PASO, Texas -- Nearly 850,000 people have been stopped trying to illegally cross the border this year. That is nearly 100 people every hour.

Despite those statistics, the director of Homeland Security says America is moving in the right direction.

"We're beginning to see a significant turn in the direction of migration," Michael Chertoff said earlier this week.

Chertoff also said illegal trafficking is down 20 percent . Meanwhile those crossing the border are becoming more crafty.

Just this week in El Paso a man attempted to sneak into the U.S. by hiding in a suitcase

The discovery came during a stop at the Paso Del Norte port of entry on Tuesday.

The large suitcase was in the back seat of a car.

The government credits the lower numbers to more Border Patrol and National Guard presence in addition to workplace raids, tougher penalties, and border fencing.

Chertoff is quick to remind that the security comes at a cost.

"People have to decide do they want to have the security, do they want to continue to plug the gap that GAO has identified and recognize there will be a cost to doing that," he said.

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