The Trump administration on Monday announced that it will pay for the travel and provide $1,000 to undocumented migrants who voluntarily return to their home countries.

US President Donald Trump stated that some undocumented migrants who take advantage of the self-deportation scheme may be given a pathway to legally re-enter the United States.

“We’re going to pay each one a certain amount of money, and we’re going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House.

“We’re going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in—if they’re good people, if they’re the kind of people that we want in our country,” he said. “It will give them a path to coming back into the country.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, while announcing the travel assistance and $1,000 stipend programme, said, “Self-deportation is the best, safest, and most cost-effective way to leave the United States and avoid arrest.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it is “offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home app.”

CBP Home refers to an app developed by the DHS through which people can arrange their own deportation.

DHS stated that the $1,000 stipend will be paid after the person’s return to their home country has been verified via the app.

“Self-deportation is a dignified way to leave the US and will allow illegal aliens to avoid being encountered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” the department said in a statement.

DHS noted that even with the stipend and travel assistance, the CBP Home programme is expected to reduce deportation costs by approximately 70 per cent.

Currently, the average cost of arresting, detaining, and removing an undocumented migrant is estimated at $17,121.

The DHS said that one undocumented migrant from Honduras has already used the programme to return home.

Trump, who pledged during his presidential campaign to carry out mass deportations, claimed during the White House event that there are as many as 21 million undocumented migrants in the United States.

However, the number stood at 11 million in 2022, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

(The PUNCH)