Trump, DHS launch new self-deportation app
The Trump administration has introduced the CBP Home app, a new platform designed to replace the CBP One app and facilitate the self-deportation of individuals in the U.S. illegally, Customs and Border Protection announced.
Fox – 10 Phoenix
WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security is offering $1,000 stipends and free airfare to immigrants who deport themselves.
The proposal released on May 5 enhances the department’s previous encouragement to immigrants without legal authorization to be in the U.S. to announce their intention to leave on the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP Home App.
The department estimates that paying the fee for voluntary deportations would be much less expensive than the current average of $17,121 to arrest, detain and remove immigrants.
“If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
Another incentive is that migrants agreeing to voluntary deportation will be less of a priority for detention and removal ahead of their planned departures, the department said. Participation in the program may preserve the option for a migrant to re-enter the U.S. legally in the future, the department said.
The offer of travel assistance has already been successful, according to the department. An immigrant who entered the country without authorization received a ticket for a flight from Chicago to Honduras and more tickets have been booked for others in the coming weeks, the department said.