On Monday, Donald Trump’s administration said that it would pay $1,000 to immigrants in the U.S. illegally so they can return home voluntarily. The news release came from the office of the Department of Homeland Security. The release added that the government would also pay for travel assistance. Individuals who use an app called CBP Home to tell the government they will be returning to their home country voluntarily.
Kristi Noem Pushes CBP App
“If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest, and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” Secretary Kristi Noem said. “DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App.”
According to DHS, one migrant has already used the app, and they received a ticket to leave Chicago and return to Honduras. They also claim that more tickets have been booked for later in the week.
Immigrants’ Big Focus For Trump
Trump has focused a lot of his time in the White House on immigration, and it is a resource-intensive endeavor. Republicans have requested an increase in funding for the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Trump administration has matched its self-deportation agenda with television ads that threaten harsh action against illegal immigrants. It has also posted images of immigration enforcement arrests on social media. Those images include migrants being sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
The Trump administration has pushed self-deportation as a means to be able to reenter the country in the future. On Monday, Trump suggested that migrants who self-deport might be able to return legally “if they’re good people” and “love our country.” He then added, “And if they aren’t, they won’t.”
Expert: Migrants Must Be Cautious
However, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, says that migrants should be cautious about the offer from DHS. He told AP News that when migrants leave the country, it counts as abandoning any applications they have filed for relief, including asylum applications. “People’s immigration status is not as simple as this makes it out to be,” Reichlin-Melnick said.
Where Will Funding Come From
He also questioned where DHS would get the funds to pay immigrants and the authorization to disburse it. He believes the payments have become necessary due to the fact that the Trump administration cannot detain and deport as many immigrants as it has promised to. “They’re not getting their numbers,” he said.
The Trump administration created the self-deportation app by transforming an app the Biden administration used to let 1 million schedule appointments to enter the U.S. into a tool to return them home. It was called CBP One, and now, it is known as CBP Home.
