The U.S. has deported 6,582 sentenced Dominican-born criminals to the Dominican Republic from 1993 to 1997: 1,024 (1993), 969 (1994), 1,165 (1995), 1,472 (1996), and 1,952 (1997). The deportations occur following the passing of a bill that seeks to save the U.S. government money. The deportations have been criticized because they send U.S. trained expert drug traffickers and criminals to countries, like the Dominican Republic, where the crime rate is low and the drug problem is not at critical levels. Some of these had just served the first years of 25 year or life sentences.
