Lawyers warn taking the offer on these self-deportation notices could backfire.
On April 28, lawyer Paul O’Dwyer opened his email inbox to find some good news. A New York City immigration judge had approved the asylum application for one of his clients. But the immigration court email also contained an attachment O’Dwyer hadn’t seen before: a Justice Department notice encouraging immigrants to self-deport.
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O’Dwyer was confused. If an immigration judge had just granted his client protection from deportation, why would they send out such a flyer? “It was bizarre,” he said, “and I was surprised to see it simply because it came with an order approving the asylum application. On that front, it just didn’t make sense.”
Titled “Message to Illegal Aliens: A Warning to Self-Deport,” the message is also available in Spanish and lists the supposed benefits of self-deportation and the consequences of being removed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The first category includes the ability to “leave on your own terms” and keep any money earned in the United States, as well as the possibility of a flight subsidized by the US government. The alternative, the notice warns, could result in “immediate deportation,” daily fines of close to $1,000, and potential jail time.
“It’s troubling to see that the immigration court is injecting itself into the actual removal process and taking a position on that,” O’Dwyer said.
The warning appears to be part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to boost its deportation numbers by making immigrants voluntarily leave, while aiming to discourage future migration to the United States. “Leave now,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a multimillion-dollar ad campaign. “If you don’t, we will find you and we will deport you. You will never return.”
The notice assures immigrants that it’s “safe” to self-deport using the CBP Home mobile application, which the Trump administration launched in March. “People in our country illegally can self-deport the easy way,” President Donald Trump said in an official White House video publicizing the app, “or they can get deported the hard way—and that’s not pleasant.” The administration is also offering a $1,000 stipend and travel assistance to incentivize immigrants to use the CBP Home self-deportation feature.
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Author: Isabela Dias
Isabela Dias is a reporter at Mother Jones. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Slate, the Nation, Pacific Standard, Texas Observer, and elsewhere. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism.
