| Federal agents are raiding thousands of homes of criminal illegal immigrants under Obama administration directives that emphasize apprehending dangerous criminals over arresting nonviolent illegal residents. Newly compiled data show that in fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, the number of criminal illegal immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement fugitive-operations teams doubled, from more than 7,900 in fiscal year 2008 to almost 16,000. The number of non-criminals arrested plummeted during the same year, from more than 26,200 to fewer than 19,200. More than 45 percent of people arrested during the operations in fiscal year 2009 were criminals, compared to 17 percent in 2008. |