FBI Resumes Flying Illegal Immigrants Back Across the Border

    For the third straight summer, some illegal immigrants who have been caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are being flown back home.

    The flights, part of the Homeland Security Department's so-called repatriation program, aim to reduce the chances of migrants recrossing the porous Arizona border by flying them deep into the interior of Mexico.

    The first repatriation flight this year carried 67 people to Mexico City on Friday. From there, they were to be bused to their home communities in central and southern Mexico, officials said.

    The program targets immigrants deemed at physical risk if they tried to cross the border through the desert again, including those who are close to dehydration, are exhausted or in need of medical attention, said Russell Ahr, a spokesman in Phoenix for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    It also targets women and children, particularly women who might be pregnant, Ahr said.