Deportations from U.S. decline in fiscal 2014: DHS report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported fewer undocumented immigrants in fiscal year 2014, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday in a report that also showed a decline in the number coming from Mexico. In its year-end report, the department said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a primary agency for border security, deported 315,943 people, down from 368,644 the previous year. The report showed a 68 percent increase in undocumented immigrants from countries other than Mexico, primarily from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, with the number of Mexicans down 14 percent from 2013. A spike during the summer in the number of unaccompanied children trying to cross the U.S. southwestern border was one of the factors responsible for the increase. Eight-five percent of those deported from the U.S. interior had criminal records, the report said, compared with 67 percent in 2011. The federal fiscal year ended Sept. 30. (Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)