Number of US illegal immigrants from Mexico drops
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SAN LUIS, AZ - OCTOBER 04: A border patrol vehicle drives along a wall of metal recently constructed by National Guardsmen to form a double-fence border barrier in a dusty no-man?s land of denuded desert that runs along the US-Mexico border on October 4, 2007 east of San Luis, California. Recent US federal construction of border fences has rapidly sped up. The sudden acceleration marks a change from a month ago when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would have only completed 15 of 70 miles of new fencing promised by the end of September, enraging anti-illegal-immigration groups and many Republicans. Instead, the DHS reached its goal of 70 miles to raise the total amount of border fences from 75 to about 145 miles. The fence-building frenzy is the result of the controversial Secure Fence Act, passed last fall, calling for 698 miles of border fences. Critics argue that extensive fencing will damage fragile desert environments, divide border neighborhoods, and that illegal immigrants will continue to find ways over, under, and through the fence or simply go around it elsewhere along the 2000-mile-long international border. Supporters believe that it will hinder border crossers. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
