Two armed agents from Customs and Border Patrol are dropped from a helicopter for a night operation to intercept Mexican nationals illegally crossing the U.S. border March 5, 2006 in the Otay Mesa, California area.

Mexican nationals who illegally crossed the California border are apprehended and handcuffed 3 miles inside U.S. territory by Customs and Border Protection agents March 6, 2006 in Campo, California.

Mexican nationals who illegally crossed the California border without a guide and possibly abandoned are handcuffed one mile inside U.S. territory by Customs and Border Protection agents March 6, 2006 in Campo, California.

A Mexican national and U.S. resident alien, Nicolas Neri-Jorge, is electronically fingerprinted by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent after he was taken into custody for failure to appear in court on a drug selling charge March 7, 2006 in San Diego, California.

A Mexican national is brought into a federal processing center March 7, 2006 in San Diego, California for a deportation hearing. The prisoner was convicted of a felony, a deportable offense.

A man sleeps in a dormitory for Mexican and foreign nationals convicted of a felony or a deportable offense March 1, 2006 at the El Centro, California federal detention center.

Mexican nationals who are about to be deported back to Mexico wait in a special bus operated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement February 27, 2006 at the San Ysidro, California border station.

Mexican nationals wait in line before being deported back to Mexico February 27, 2006 at the San Ysidro, California border station.

Armed agents from Customs and Border Patrol prepare to be dropped from a helicopter for a night operation to intercept Mexican nationals illegally crossing the U.S. border March 6, 2006 in the Otay Mesa, California area.

A view along the western US-Mexican border shows the rudimentary metal fence put up by the U.S. to keep people from crossing the Tijuana, Mexico outskirts into Chula Vista, California. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent monitors the border line at sunset.

Armed agents from Customs and Border Patrol dropped from a helicopter for a night operation intercept 8 Mexican nationals who illegally crossed the U.S. border March 6, 2006 in the Otay Mesa, California area.

Mexican nationals apprehended while crossing the U.S-Mexican border illegally wait in a holding area at the Brownfield Customs and Border Patrol processing center March 6, 2006 in Otay Mesa, California.

Mexican nationals apprehended while illegally crossing the U.S-Mexican border wait in a holding area at the Brownfield Customs and Border Patrol processing center March 6, 2006 in Otay Mesa, California.

Three immigrants convicted of a felony are lined up for an admission procedure by a security guard at a privately managed detention center February 28, 2006 in Otay Mesa, California. The foreign nationals will be scheduled for a deportation hearing in a U.S. Immigration court.

Female inmates enter their rooms at a privately run 1000 bed detention center February 28, 2006 in Otay Mesa, California.