The Trump administration’s new plan to pay undocumented migrants who deport themselves is drawing criticism as a potential trap for those who take the U.S. up on its offer.
The plan seems simple: Take an offered $1,000 and help with a plane ticket to voluntarily leave the United States. Here’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem touting the offer to a House Appropriations Subcommittee.
"If individuals who are here illegally wait until we have to go find them, arrest them, deport them, spend up to $17,000 by getting them back to their home countries, President Trump has been very clear: they will never get the chance to come back," she said.
The American Immigration Lawyer’s Association warns that there could be severe consequences for anyone who takes the offer.
"We’re saying that this is a trap in that you need to understand what you’re going to do if you depart the United States. And if you may have had any form of relief. And some people will," said Kathleen Campbell Walker, the group’s former president.
People awaiting court dates for immigration proceedings based on humanitarian or political issues may short circuit their chance at staying in the U.S. if they take it.
