Irish people are being deported from the United States at an unprecedented rate.

As US officials clamp down on illegals residing in the country, Irish people who travelled there without visas are in the firing line.

In the New York consular area alone, 27 Irish people have been deported so far this year.

This is more than twice the number sent home during the whole of 2006, in what is one of the most popular areas for Irish emigrants.

The area is made up of New York itself, but also New Jersey and Connecticut, along with seven other states in the east and southeast of the US.

The overall number of deportations of Irish people has shown a steady increase in recent years with 2008 already exceeding figures for 2007.

Last year, there were 53 people sent back across the Atlantic, up 12 from 2006.

So far this year, a total of 58 Irish have been expelled for immigration violations according to figures from the Irish consulates.

The numbers are following a national trend which shows a dramatic increase in deportations across the country since the turn of the century.

Figures from US immigration and customs enforcement, a branch of the department of homeland security, show officials are making major efforts to send illegals packing.

In 2001, there were 116,460 "removals". By October of this year, there were 349,041, an increase of more than 20pc from 2007.

Donald Kerwin, vice-president of programmes for the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank that studies immigration, said a variety of factors had "conspired to greatly increase the numbers of deportations".

He said that greater enforcement measures, more co-ordination between the various government agencies involved in immigration, and a very contentious public debate on immigration policy, were particularly important.

One of areas where many illegal emigrants are being caught out is when trying to make internal flights.

Changes to the laws following 9/11 made it obligatory for strict ID checks when making internal flights.

This has resulted in some undocumented Irish being picked up by authorities at airports.

Driving

Kelly Fincham, executive director of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, pointed out that prior to changes made after the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York, undocumented Irish were able to apply for a driver's licence. Now, only those with a valid social security number can do so.

As a result, anybody stopped for a routine traffic check will have to use their passports for identification, immediately giving away the fact that they are illegal.

Even though a violation of immigration laws is a civil rather than a criminal offence, those who await deportation are often held with common criminals. The standard waiting time in the New York consular area is four to six weeks.

Niall O'Dowd, chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, said the rise in numbers of Irish deportations underscored the urgency of immigration reform in the US.

- Kevin Doyle