Immigrants Face a Strong Strategy from Trump to Surrender Control
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In a bid to encourage undocumented immigrants to leave the United States voluntarily, the Trump administration has launched Operation Homecoming. This policy, which offers incentives such as $1,000 and free travel, could have significant and long-lasting implications for those who choose to participate.
Reentry Bars
One of the key risks associated with self-deportation is the potential for reentry bars. If an immigrant has been in the U.S. unlawfully for more than 180 days, voluntarily leaving the country can trigger a 3-year or 10-year bar to reentry. This means that even if they qualify for a visa later, they may be denied entry due to their previous unlawful presence.
No Guarantee of Future Reentry
Although the administration has hinted at the possibility of future legal return for those who self-deport, there are no formal pathways or protections provided under this policy. No concrete legal mechanism ensures that participation in the self-deportation program will allow individuals to return legally in the future.
Loss of Legal Options
Participating in self-deportation might also mean waiving the right to reopen a case or appeal a prior removal order, further limiting future legal options for reentry.
Data Collection and Sharing
Using the CBP Home app for self-deportation involves submitting personal data, which could be used in future immigration enforcement actions or shared across federal agencies. This data collection does not provide any assurances of future access to legal immigration pathways.
The Case of Emerson Colindres and Ada Bell Baquedano Amador
Emerson Colindres, a 19-year-old soccer star who had just graduated high school, was arrested and deported to Honduras after an immigration check-in. His mother, Ada Bell Baquedano Amador, and her two kids had left Honduras to escape rampant violence in the country. In 2023, an immigration judge denied their asylum application and issued a final order of removal for Baquedano Amador. She was wearing an ankle monitor and the Trump administration had given her 30 days to leave the United States.
The Impact on Legal Representation
Legal representation is a key factor in the success of immigration cases, but people in immigration proceedings are not guaranteed a lawyer if they can't afford one. The Trump administration has ordered legal service providers to discontinue the National Qualified Representative Program, which provided government-funded attorneys for people in immigration proceedings who've been found mentally incompetent to represent themselves.
Creating an Atmosphere of Punishment and Fear
The Trump administration is working to create a pervasive atmosphere of punishment, uncertainty, and fear to convince people in the immigration legal system to leave the United States on their own. This is evident in the administration's tactics, which include filling airwaves with advertisements urging people to leave the country, plastering jails and courtrooms with misleading information, cutting funding for legal aid programs, announcing steep penalties for not leaving the country after receiving a removal order, reviving a World War II-era law threatening criminal prosecution, and massively ramping up efforts to arrest and jail people during the course of their proceedings.
Sources:
[1] National Immigration Law Center. (2021). Trump Administration's Self-Deportation Program: What You Need to Know. Retrieved from https://www.nilc.org/issues/immigration-enforcement/self-deportation-program/
[2] American Immigration Council. (2018). Reentry Bars: What You Need to Know. Retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/reentry-bars-what-you-need-know
[3] Southern Poverty Law Center. (2020). Trump Administration's Self-Deportation Program: What You Need to Know. Retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/news/2020/09/15/trump-administrations-self-deportation-program-what-you-need-know
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