The Border Patrol last month began a controversial program called "No Pass" in which every illegal immigrant caught between Mount Cristo Rey and the Paso del Norte Bridge in downtown El Paso will be jailed and prosecuted, the El Paso Times reported.

The agency also acknowledged that a similar program called "Lockdown" has been in effect since December between Mount Cristo Rey and Sunland Park, the Times reported.

Now, the Border Patrol announced Wednesday it will expand "Lockdown" to the Santa Teresa Port of Entry beginning next week, the paper said.

"Since 'No Pass' has been such a success -- there has been a 78 percent drop in apprehensions -- we decided to expand 'Lockdown' to the Santa Teresa Port of Entry," Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told the Times.

Immigrants apprehended in those "zero-tolerance" zones are charged with a federal misdemeanor "entry without inspection" for which they can be jailed for up to 180 days, the Times reported.

Outside those zones, captured immigrants are fingerprinted, and if they have no criminal history, can be returned to Mexico without being formally deported or serving jail time, the paper said. 

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