By Jerry Seper
\nThe Washington Times<\/p>\n
The federal government has spent $204 million since 2003 to hunt down and remove fugitive aliens from the United States, but it has shown little success in slowing down a burgeoning number of aliens now hiding in cities and towns across America.<\/p>\n
More than 623,000 fugitive aliens or “absconders” are loose on the streets of America, according to a report issued yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General — up from 331,000 after the September 11 attacks and 418,000 in 2003.<\/p>\n
Despite the deployment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of 50 Fugitive Operations Teams nationwide with the “immediate mission” to eliminate the growing backlog of fugitive aliens — those ordered deported but who have disappeared — it has increased annually since the program’s February 2002 inception.<\/p>\n
“The fugitive alien population is growing at a rate that exceeds the teams’ ability to apprehend,” said Inspector General Richard L. Skinner, noting the teams’ inability “to keep pace with the increase in the backlog of fugitive aliens, not to mention reduce it.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Skinner said the backlog of fugitive aliens increased an average of 51,228 each year over a four-year period ending September 2005, and that from October 2005 to August 2006, the number jumped by 86,648.<\/p>\n