Immigrants in the U.S. illegally could be given $1,000 if they decide to self-deport and return home voluntarily.
According to the Associated Press, the Trump administration announced the move Monday and is part of President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to implement mass deportations of illegal immigrants who largely poured across the southern border during the Biden administration.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that the agency would pay towards travel assistance and encouraged illegal immigrants to use the CBP Home app to alert the government that they plan to leave. This would “deprioritize” detention and removal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement that self-deportation is the “best, safest, and most cost-effective” way to leave the U.S. in order to avoid arrest.
“DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App,” Noem said.
The department further announced it had already paid for a Honduran illegal immigrant living in Chicago to go home, and more tickets have been booked.
Despite clamping down on immigration being a top priority for the Trump administration and part of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises, deporting millions of people en masse takes a lot of resources.
The administration has asked Congress to provide an increase of funding to ICE and has now turned to asking illegal immigrants to self-deport on the premise they may be able to return to the U.S. in the future.
Aaron Reichlen-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said immigrants could end up on the backfoot if they choose to leave because applications for relief in cases seeking asylum is seen as abandonment if the applicant leaves the U.S., especially in cases where removal proceedings are in motion.
“People’s immigration status is not as simple as this makes it out to be,” Reichlen-Melnick said.
