THE Trump administration has started a new initiative offering $1000 stipends and free commercial airfare for illegal migrants willing to leave the United States voluntarily, said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The plan was announced on Monday, and the people signing up voluntarily will receive the stipend and free travel without being detained by the US authorities.
Trump noted several benefits of the programme, stating that some participants might be eligible to return legally in the future, but first, they will have to fulfil all legal formalities after returning to their countries.
“We’re going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in— if they’re good people, if they’re the kind of people that we want in our country, industrious people that love our country,” he said during a White House event on Monday.
“And if they’re not, they won’t… If they miss that limit, they’re going to be taken out of our country, and they will never get a path to come back in. And it’ll be a much tougher process,” Trump warned.
Secretary of DHS Kristi Noem described the initiative as the “best, safest, and most cost-effective way” for undocumented immigrants to avoid arrest by immigration and customs enforcement (ICE), urging them to “download the CBP Home App TODAY and self-deport.”
DHS estimates that traditional deportation procedures cost taxpayers an average of $17,121 per individual.
However, the self-deportation program is projected to reduce costs by approximately 70 per cent, lowering the average expense to about $4,500 per person, even after accounting for the stipend and travel assistance.
During his re-election campaign in 2024, Trump had promised to “stop the invasion of illegals” and begin the “largest deportation operation” in US history.
In the first 100 days of his second term, ICE has arrested more than 150,000 illegal immigrants and deported over 139,000 of them, according to a fact sheet published by the White House last month.
The Trump administration aims to reach one million deportations in 2025 alone. This includes people who have fled the war zone in search of safety and a dignified life.
Trump is willing to keep illegal migrants out of his country with no remorse; he warned Mexico and Canada to prevent the migrants from entering the US, though some of his deportation measures continue to face legal challenges.
