The United States deported nearly 400,000 people — a record high — in fiscal year 2011, according to figures released Tuesday.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton, announcing the numbers in Washington, said about 55 percent of the 396,906 individuals deported had felony or misdemeanor convictions. Officials said the number of individuals convicted of crimes was up 89 percent from 2008.
Authorities could not immediately say how many of those crimes related solely to previous immigration violations. Individuals can be convicted of a felony for returning to the U.S. or being found in the U.S. after being ordered by the government to leave.
Among the 396,906 individuals deported were more than 1,000 convicted of homicide. Another 5,800 were sexual offenders, and about 80,000 people convicted of drug related crimes or driving under the influence.
"This comes down to focusing our resources as best we can on our priorities," Morton said. "We continue to hope for comprehensive immigration reform at a national level, working with the Congress, but in the meantime, we work with the resources we have, under the laws we have."
The announcement comes as the Obama administration has sought to address critics on both sides of the immigration debate. Immigration advocates complain law enforcement officials are spending too much of their scarce resources rounding up families living illegally in the country who are otherwise law-abiding. Others say the administration isn't doing enough to stop the flow of illegal immigration and protect Americans from potential foreign terrorists and other criminals.
Department of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano has said the agency is focusing its resources on criminals, recent border crossers, those who repeatedly cross the border and those people the department considers fugitives.
Authorities say two-thirds of those deported last year either recently crossed the border or had done so repeatedly.
But House Judiciary Chairman U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, an outspoken opponent of Obama administration's immigration policies, called the ICE numbers inflated. He argued they include people who voluntarily agree to leave the country with no penalties and can easily return to the U.S. — especially along the border.
In a statement, Smith added that under the Obama administration, worksite enforcement has dropped 70 percent.
"We could free up millions of jobs for citizens and legal immigrants if we simply enforced our immigration laws," he added.
In 2009, the administration shifted from high-profile workplace sweeps to less attention-grabbing auditing of I-9 forms — the documents used to verify that employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S. The department says the shift better focuses resources on the employers who draw in illegal workers to the country.
The Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Forum immediately criticized the administration.
"In reality, the numbers highlight a failure of our government to come to grips with our broken immigration system," the group's statement said.
"At $23,000 per individual to go through the complete deportation process, immigration enforcement without fixing our broken system is not sustainable. We cannot continue to spend billions of dollars, year after year, while denying we have a more fundamental problem_that our immigration system no longer serves America well."
The announcement came the same day two TV networks will air separate shows examining the immigration detention system. "Lost in Detention," on PBS' Frontline, and CNBC's documentary, "Billions Behind Bars," which examines the private prison industry and profits made from the detention of immigrants.
Immigrant groups in cities across the country have organized viewing parties, protests and other events in connection with the program.