WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff has said the number of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States from Mexico has dropped significantly.
Chertoff said the number of Mexicans apprehended while trying to cross the border in June and July had comprised the smallest number recorded in the two month period since fiscal 2002, The New York Times reported Thursday. The number of non-Mexicans apprehended was the lowest since fiscal 2004, he said.
The official credited improved Border Patrol technology, the Bush administration's decision to deploy National Guard troops to the Mexican border and an emphasis on deportation for the decrease, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"The message, I think, is that what we have done is beginning to work," Chertoff said. "Although we're not ready to declare victory -- we've got a lot more work to do -- it is encouraging and it's something that ought to inspire us to continue to push forward on all of these different fronts."
