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Chertoff Says Security Measures Reduce Illegal Border Crossings

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said new procedures to quickly deport some non-Mexicans caught illegally crossing the border have reduced the number of undocumented immigrants who try to enter the U.S.

``Expedited removal,'' implemented to decrease the amount of time Brazilian and Honduran aliens are held to about 30 days from 90 days, reduced illegal crossings by more than 50 percent in some places, he said.

``It's a very clear message we are sending,'' Chertoff told reporters in Washington today. ``If you are caught at the border you are going to be detained until you are sent home.''

President George W. Bush and other administration officials began a push this week to emphasize strengthening border security as part of an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws that includes a guest-worker program that is opposed by some Republican lawmakers.

Long waits before deportation had forced the Homeland Security Department to release as many as 130,000 non-Mexican illegal immigrants last year pending immigration hearings. Chertoff has pledged to end the practice by quickly deporting aliens from Brazil and Honduras in a program that will soon expand to people from other Latin and Central American countries.

Chertoff said once the program began deported immigrants quickly spread the word in their home countries about detention and removal, convincing others not to try.

Before the program was put in place, as many as 200 Brazilians were caught each day in portions of Texas as they attempted to cross the border. Four months later, the number of arrests on some days fell to zero.

`Deterrence'

``The impact is deterrence,'' Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar said. ``The message gets home very quickly.''

Speaking to border patrol agents in Tucson, Arizona on Nov. 28, Bush pledged to continue programs that speed the deportation of illegal border crossers and to increase the use of technology for border surveillance.

Bush has made an overhaul of immigration laws a priority in his second term, including the creation of a guest-worker program. Chertoff today reemphasized the need for temporary visa programs for immigrants who want to do jobs in the U.S. that Americans will not do.



To contact the reporter on this story:
Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: December 1, 2005 12:24 EST