Faced with the inability to meet its detention and deportation goals, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced what it called a “historic opportunity” for undocumented immigrants to receive financial and travel assistance to facilitate their return to their home country through the CBP Home app.
“Any undocumented alien who uses the CBP Home app to self-deport will also receive a $1,000 stipend, which will be paid once their return to their home country is confirmed through the app,” said the agency headed by Secretary Kristi Noem.
Although Trump promised the largest deportation campaign in US history, his actions have failed to meet his domestic goals of 1,200 deportations per day. Furthermore, some of his executive orders, including the Alien Enemies Act, have been partially blocked in court.
“Undocumented aliens who present their intent to voluntarily self-deport at CBP Home will also lose priority for detention and removal prior to departure, provided they demonstrate they are making significant progress toward completing that departure,” DHS stated.
The Trump administration estimates that using CBP Home will reduce the costs of deportation by approximately 70%. The average cost of arresting, detaining, and removing an undocumented alien is $17,121 per person, according to official figures.
DHS indicated that the first use of travel assistance has already been successful. This is an undocumented Honduran who recently used CPB One to obtain a plane ticket from Chicago to Honduras.
