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OTM's Deported Quicker

Thursday, July 07, 2005 Updated: 01:25 PM


WESLACO - NEWSCHANNEL 5 investigates a new Homeland Security tool used to deport illegal immigrants "other than Mexican" more quickly.

WESLACO - Every year, thousands of non-Mexicans, commonly referred to as "OTM's," sneak across the American border. Even when caught, there is a good chance they'll go free. That is, until now.

Border Patrol agents say they've a surge of violent illegal immigrants. Some are even armed with deadly weapons.

"I have had bullets whiz by me,� said Border Patrol Agent Daniel Garibay.

In Mexican border towns like Nuevo Laredo, illegal immigrants pay smugglers more than $700 to bring them to the bank of the Rio Grande.

Previously, if an OTM were picked up in the United States, it would take an immigration judge months to deport them. But now, under a new program known as “expedited removal,� agents can send them back on their own. It shortens the process from months to just days.