The INS has been engaged in an operation in Texas to round up and deport green card holders with three or more drunk driving convictions. Under Operation Last Call, nearly 500 immigrants have been nabbed and another 150 are being sought in Texas. While most of the detainees are Mexican, there were also Korean, Chinese, Afghan and Vietnamese immigrants.

The INS stated that the operation was intended to get drunk driving offenders off the streets before Labor Day and to serve notice on others that drunk driving is taken seriously. According to INS spokesman Lynn Ligon, "Our posture is, living in this country - if you're not a citizen - is a privilege."

Immigrant advocacy organizations have made clear their opposition to the crackdown. "This is tearing up families, tearing up communities, tearing up the lives of women and children, making them dependent on what's left of the welfare system," stated Rogelio Nunez, executive director of advocacy organization Proyecto Libertad, in an interview with the Harlingen Valley, Texas MORNING STAR. Others claim the program is specifically targeting Hispanics, noting that most of the deportees are Mexican and that a similar program is not occurring on the US-Canada border.

The 1996 Immigration Act and a recent decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals have cleared the way for the removal of any permanent resident with three or more drunk driving convictions. Three drunk driving convictions are now considered equivalent to an aggravated felony which is deportable.