Arrested about 7:30 a.m., Garcia was in the air about 1 p.m., along with 34 others from Utah, including several heavily tattooed gangbangers from jail. The cons laughed and talked about being back in a week. Garcia frowned, his dark eyes downcast.

"If at all possible, we try to get them out of here as soon as possible," Nay said.

ICE agents allowed Garcia to call his house while he waited for the airport bus to leave. His wife, daughter and sister-in-law came to the center with a change of clothes. Their 10-minute visit ended in a tearful embrace. They left him a blue duffel bag containing more clothes, a bottle of Gatorade, a bag of tortilla chips and an apple.

"Mexico?" an ICE detention guard said, while tagging the duffel bag.

"Colombia," Garcia replied, turning to wink.

Garcia says he doesn't know what he's going to do once he reaches Ciudad Juarez, just across the Texas border.

"He take care of me, that guy up there," he said, nodding heavenward.

A few minutes later, tongues flapping on his laceless shoes, he walked in shackles and chains to the waiting bus.

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The new INS

The alphabet soup of the American immigration system can be confusing. In a nutshell:

• There is no longer any agency known as U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS. In March 2003, INS became part of the Department of Homeland Security and was split into two bureaus.

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, handles investigations, detention and deportation operations and federal protective services.

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, is responsible for the administration of visa petitions, naturalization petitions and asylum, and refugee applications.

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Coming Friday: The cost of social services

E-mail: romboy@desnews.com; lucy@desnews.com