Before, Mexicans caught by U.S. Border Patrol illegally crossing into Arizona, California or Texas were deported back to the same spot where they were caught. Nevertheless, the illegal immigrants kept coming back with the help of the same human smugglers who previously brought them to these borders.

Today, the propensity of Mexicans to re-cross the border as soon as they are deported has been shattered with a strategy to break the immigration pattern and break the ties between human smugglers and Mexican migrants. And U.S. immigration authorities claim the so-called Alien Transfer and Exit Program (ATEP), which deport caught illegal immigrants to a different border exit, has discouraged Mexicans from crossing back to U.S. territory.

Under the ATEP, Mexican immigrants caught in California are transported to either Arizona or Texas border cities, where they are led out of the country. Those caught in Arizona or Texas are brought to California, where they are deported.

With the said program, the number of arrests of illegal immigrants in the Southwest border has decreased and only about one-quarter of immigrants deported through the ATEP are encountered again trying to cross the border, authorities claim. That's because immigrants who were brought to an unfamiliar territory are confused and discouraged, so they are more likely to give up crossing into the U.S. again and go home instead, authorities explain.

"It's another tool in our toolbox that helps deter people from trying again," said Bill Brooks, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which runs the program with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Los Angeles Times.

ATEP was introduced in 2008 and those deported under the program are aged 20 to 60. Among them was Luis Montes, who crossed into Rio Grande, Texas Saturday and deported via Mexicali, Mexico, nearly 2,000 kilometres from where he started.