Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) suggested that instead of providing $1,000 to illegal aliens who decide to self-deport through the CBP Home app, they can pay a fine and be given work visas while their cases are handled in immigration courts.
Gallego said there would be background checks and that the work visas would be renewable with good behavior.
‘If we have to go through the process of formally deporting you, there are mandatory bars against you for up to 20 years — sometimes forever.’
When faced with criticism of his idea, Gallego insisted this would not be a pathway to citizenship because work visas do not mean someone is able to become a citizen.
Gallego made the offer in response to the Department of Homeland Security announcing the new stipend on Monday. The DHS says the incentive to have illegal aliens leave before being arrested by agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will save taxpayers money in the long run because “the average cost to arrest, detain, and remove an illegal alien is $17,121.”
“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 is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home app,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “This is the safest option for our law enforcement [and] aliens and is a 70% savings for U.S. taxpayers. Download the CBP Home app TODAY and self-deport.”
The DHS reported that a Honduran national who went back to the Central American country from Chicago was one of the first people to take advantage of the program, and plane tickets for other interested illegal immigrants have already been booked for this week and next week.
Border czar Tom Homan said illegal immigrants should self-deport because doing so gives them a chance to come back to the United States legally. However, he warned that “if we have to go through the process of formally deporting you, there are mandatory bars against you for up to 20 years — sometimes forever.”
It remains to be seen whether the new monetary incentive will boost the number of illegal aliens using CBP Home app to leave the United States, as only a few thousand people have registered their intent to leave since the redesign of the app was rolled out in March.
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Politics