Between 1998 and 2004, the deportation of Dominicans from the United States has risen from 2,500 to 5,000, and the New York City Council is taking steps to see that the deported persons are guaranteed their rights. Over one third of the deportees were persons that had arrived in the United States illegally or had overstayed their visas. In 2004, only 1,305 of the 5,000 people deported had been convicted of major crimes, including drugs and other related offenses. In the Dominican Republic, the DNCD has requested the formation of a new unit that will be charged with checking the deportees. Currently, the National Police have a registry of the deported person and they are expected to visit the Police from time to time. The Police also is supposed to visit their registered place of residence. Buenaventura Bueno Torres, spokesperson for the DNCD, told Diario Libre reporters that for the most part, the deportees engage in legal activities in the country and that many of them are from “honorable families from the countryside.”