The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that around 1.6 million people who were in the United States illegally have “self-deported” in recent months, while another 500,000 have been expelled by immigration authorities.
According to the DHS, the self-deportations correspond to immigrants who voluntarily registered to leave the country, in many cases motivated by an official campaign that offers a one-time payment of $1,000 and a plane ticket.
Instead, the forced deportations were carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the Border Patrol, who intensified their operations in different cities of the country under protocols and operations encouraged by the president himself, Donald Trump.
DHS has actively promoted the voluntary self-deportation program through a national advertising campaign that offers a $1,000 payment and a plane ticket to those who choose to register to leave the country on their own.
Although the agency did not specify the total amount allocated to the program, local media estimate that several million dollars have been invested in its promotion.
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, assured that the Trump administration “is on track to break current deportation records.”
Cities with large numbers of migrants and governed by Democratic authorities, such as Chicago, are under massive operations and raids by ICE, which has been denounced by human rights organizations and opposition politicians for implementing “military tactics” against migrants.
