Releasing its annual figures on Thursday, the regional offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reveals that the results of a crackdown on immigrants already convicted for crimes, including those who have been dodging standing deportation orders stands at a record high, with more than 100,000 illegal immigrants in Texas deported in the past 12 months.

Raiding homes, scouring jails and prisons, in what is a 20% increase from the previous year, ICE agents deported 349,000 illegal immigrants across the nation, during the
12 months leading up to September.

Most of the deportees happened to be from Mexico, while nearly a third of those deported had previous criminal convictions. In a bid to keep a check on crime, the US government not only deports illegal immigrants, but also legal immigrants or green card holders, for conviction of certain crimes.

Neil Clark, in charge of overseeing ICE's detention and removal operations for three states, credits the increase in deportations to a criminal alien programme, which has officers sifting through jails, prisons and courtrooms for immigrants subject to deportation. Placing a hold on them, once they have completed their criminal sentences, they are turned over to the ICE for deportation.

A national trend, the 2008 fiscal year saw more than 345,700 people deported from the USA, up 16% from the previous year.