McALLEN, Texas (AP) - The number of Border Patrol apprehensions nationwide has dropped for a third consecutive year, according to new government data.
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics reports that the U.S. Border Patrol - charged with catching illegal immigrants near the nation's boundaries - had 724,000 apprehensions in 2008. That's down from nearly 1.2 million in 2005.
Ninety-seven percent of those apprehensions were on the southwest border with Mexico ,and 91 percent of those caught were Mexican.
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