NOGALES, Ariz., Oct. 1 (UPI) -- The Mexico-U.S. border has become a "revolving door" for many deported criminals that find ways to reenter the United States, say immigration experts.
Criminals deported to Mexico are dropped off in Nogales and other border entry points rather than being repatriated into the interior of the country, the Arizona Republic said Monday.
The longer those deportees lived in the United States, the more likely they will try to return because they have no real ties to Mexico, said David Shirk, director of the Trans-Border Institute at the University of San Diego.
"These people are essentially in limbo. Legally they belong in one place, and socially and culturally they belong in another," Shirk said, noting the "reality is a revolving door" at the border.
Background checks in the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson sector through August revealed 38,864 cases of illegal border crossers with previous U.S. criminal convictions -- up 13 percent from the same period last year, the Republic reported.
