U.S. resumes the flying of illegal immigrants caught in Arizona to Mexico City

Published/Last Modified on Sunday, Aug 23, 2009 - 04:28:31 pm MST


MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. government has begun flying illegal immigrants caught in the Arizona desert back to Mexico under a voluntary repatriation program.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said the twice-daily Tucson-to-Mexico City flights began Friday. It said Sunday that the annual summer program will run through Sept. 28.

The U.S. government launched the program in summer 2004 after years of record-setting deaths of illegal immigrants along the state’s border with Mexico.

Authorities said the goal is to save lives and discourage repeat crossings by transporting illegal immigrants closer to their homes in Mexico, instead of simply deporting them across the border.

In the past, federal agencies in Cochise County have routinely returned numerous illegal immigrants to the international ports at Douglas-Agua Prieta and Naco.

No data were immediately available concerning the numbers of illegal immigrants being flown from Phoenix to Mexico City.

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