In 2002, 510 people were arrested at work sites nationwide for violating U.S. immigration laws.

In the past 11 months, almost 5,000 have been arrested for the same thing, a tenfold increase. Included in that number are the 311 Pilgrim’s Pride workers arrested April 16 in five states, 100 in Chattanooga.

Over the last several years, immigration officials have redoubled their efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants, Assistant Field Office Director Scott Sutterfield, from the Office of Detention and Removal in New Orleans, has said.

He credited “fugitive operations teams” and a program that cross-designates state and local officers to enforce immigration laws for the increased number of deportations.

Critics of illegal immigration want to see more raids and tougher penalties.

“I felt the Pilgrim’s Pride arrests were justified and there should be even more enforcement of illegal workers in the U.S., along with stiffer penalties and quicker deportation,” said Brenda Poe, a resident of Dunlap, Tenn., who opposes illegal immigration.

Illegal immigrants are “criminals,” she said, and organizations that helped arrested Hispanics and their families should focus on others.

“I was concerned and somewhat surprised that there were so many agencies and organizations rushing in to try to support the families of these criminals,” she said. “Maybe these organizations need to be concerned with the law-abiding citizens and the families that are trying to work according to the laws of our land and still just barely making ends meet.”

Dr. Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, said the current increase in deportations is closely tied to politics.

“It’s very clear that there’s an unprecedented increase in deportations,” he said. “I think what we’re seeing now is much more a political response than anything else to the fact that the Republican Congress and the president wanted stepped-up enforcement because that was campaign promises they made.”

So, in fiscal year 2008 — October 2007 through August 2008 — 1,022 people have been arrested, including 116 company owners, managers, supervisors or human resources employees who now face charges that include harboring or hiring illegal immigrants. The remaining workers arrested are facing charges that include identity theft and Social Security fraud, ICE officials said.

During this same period, ICE made 3,900 administrative arrests for immigration violations.

Administrative arrests may involve people who entered the country illegally but don’t have a criminal record, according to ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa.