Illegal Immigrants Deported At Record Pace

The government is deporting illegal immigrants at a record pace, removing 42,426 in the first six months of fiscal 1997.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service said Tuesday that more than half of the deported immigrants - 23,290 - had been convicted of aggravated crimes such as murder, rape or armed robbery.

Removing criminal aliens is a key agency enforcement goal, one that Clinton administration officials have been stressing in recent months amid heightened concern here and abroad that a tough new immigration law will result in massive sweeps.

The six-month deportation rate keeps the Immigration and Naturalization Service on pace to achieve its goal of removing 93,000 undocumented aliens from the United States this year, up from nearly 69,000 last year.