Last month the Department of Homeland Security began offering a so-called stipend of $1,000 to entice individuals without lawful immigration status to self-deport. It stands to reason that not even P.T. Barnum would have cooked up this scheme. Just like anything that sounds too good to be true, so too is this. This quite simply is the current administration’s grasping at straws to find ways to achieve its grand plan of deporting the estimated eleven million undocumented persons in the country. After executing unlawful deportations and getting stymied by courts, DHS apparently thought that offering $1,000 would have people heading for the exit.
The press release announcing the program is telling of the administration’s agenda and posture. The word “illegal alien” is used ten times in a half-page, six-paragraph statement. (See my May 2025 post on the use of this term.) There is a swipe at former President Biden. The alleged payment of the stipend comes only after the self-deportee is abroad. The press release touts how much more expensive it is (reported to be $17,121 per person) to follow the law and provide due process. It also offers what likely is false hope: Self-deportation “MAY help preserve the option for an illegal alien to re-enter the United States legally in the future” (emphasis added).
This self-deportation scheme is simply penny wise (that might be generous) and pound foolish. There’s a better way. It would require Republicans to work with Democrats and find common ground to enact comprehensive immigration reform that allows a path to lawful status and citizenship for the undocumented population. Imagine the consequences of a suddenly vanquished labor force. And to offer false hope by saying, “leave now, because it might help you come back in the future,” is shameful and unrealistic. Under the current system, in the best-case scenario it takes three or more years for an employment-based immigrant currently abroad to receive a visa to enter the country and take up the offered job. Let’s find a way to go back to the days when Senators McCain and Obama were aligned on immigration reform even in the midst of a presidential campaign. There is a path forward. Politicians must find the courage to do what’s best for this country.