Not all self-deportations are created equal. The current administration has presented "self-deportation"—a term with no definition in American law—as a way to avoid the miserable conditions it has created in detention facilities. On the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website, self-deportation is presented as something to do before an undocumented immigrant encounters the law. Basically, leave on your own terms; no harm, no foul. None of the penalties associated with deportation would be assessed, but they will if ICE arrests an immigrant first.
“Remember, if ICE officials arrest you, you may not have an opportunity to do any of these things,” the page reads. “Immediately after ICE arrests you, you’ll go to detention for proceedings before an immigration judge — or, if you already have a final order of removal, ICE will remove you.”
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) page that announces “Project Homecoming” presents another self-deportation option—same term but with different circumstances and consequences. If undocumented immigrants choose to self-deport using the CBP Home Mobile App, they will receive a free plane ticket home, a $2,600 exit bonus, and have any unpaid fines forgiven for failing to depart in a timely way.
In language reminiscent of a game show, the page announces, “The process is easy! Download the CBP Home Mobile App and fill out your personal information, including taking a picture, and hit submit to start the streamlined process.”
It also says that this option is open to those whose temporary protected status has been revoked, and posters advertising it are up in detention facilities. It’s presented as a way out of the miserable conditions.
Self-deportation as described by ICE is the process of voluntarily leaving the country without any interactions with the ICE or CBP that may create obstacles for returns. Self-deportation through the CBP app is a deal where by the person leaving swaps biographic data for financial incentives.
For those who self-deport through the app after being detained though, accepting the deal is taken as a guilty plea and comes with penalties. As Dara Lind writes, “Once you have a deportation order on your record (an ‘order of removal’), you have triggered several restrictions on your ability to immigrate legally in the future. A removal order, for example, typically triggers a 10-year bar against future legal entry.”
The financial incentives promised to those who self-deport through the CBP app have proven attractive to some, but in many who took the deal didn’t receive the money that they were promised. In some cases they didn’t qualify for it, and in some the money had been wired and was waiting for them in their destination country, but ICE kept them in detention for so long that the institution that wired the money recalled it, so it wasn’t available when the recipient finally got home.
An option less publicized by the current administration is a “voluntary departure.” The language sounds like another way to say “self-deport,” but it can be requested by someone who chooses to abandon an immigration case before getting a hearing. “It also constitutes an acceptance from the immigrant that they weren’t legally admissible to the U.S., and forces them to abandon any pending applications for relief, including asylum,” Lind writes. “But, unlike deportation under a removal order, voluntary departure comes with an easier path to apply for legal status from outside the U.S. in future (for those who had that option to begin with).”
Those interested in voluntary departure should consult an experienced immigration lawyer because the current administration has no more interest in transparency in this part of its anti-immigrant agenda than it does in others. SafeJourneyHome.us purports to be an “Assisted Voluntary Return Application,” and that language is all over the page, which shows smiling faces of happy mothers and daughters.
But the second-to-last FAQ points out that “A departure through the Safe Journey Home process is not considered a withdrawal of an application for admission under 8 U.S.C. § 1225(a)(4) or a voluntary departure under 8 U.S.C. § 1229c. To the extent that an eligible individual with a final order of removal departs the United States, such a departure will generally constitute a self-removal/execution of the outstanding removal order.”
Bottom line: an “assisted voluntary return” is not a “voluntary departure” and carries the same penalties as an order of removal, including a longer wait time before an immigrant can return to the U.S.
The shell game that the government is playing with the language of departure makes it crucial that those considering self-deportation or voluntary departure should talk to an experienced immigration lawyer to make an informed decision. An immigration lawyer can help them understand the actual options on the table and explore not just those but other options that might be available. If they want to leave, an experienced immigration lawyer can help them do it in a way that genuinely reflects their interests while looking out for their future considerations as well.
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