More than 14,000 people deported from Ga., NC, SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Federal immigration officials say more than 14,000 illegal immigrants have been deported from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina since October. U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez tells The Greenville News that the agency deports more people every year. Federal agents find out about illegal immigrants in several different ways. Some jails screen all their prisoners and notify agents when they find someone in the country illegally. Others are caught in workplace raids or by fugitive teams. Illegal immigrants who lose their appeals to stay usually are sent home on a plane. Gonzalez says that costs taxpayers up to $700 a... [read full story]