The nationwide TV, radio, and social media ads feature U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem urging immigrants to voluntarily leave the country because they can eventually return. A WIRED investigation last month found that the federal government spent nearly $600,000 on at least 30 ads for the campaign. The report also discovered that the government spent $180,000 on ads in Florida alone, considering its high immigrant population.
"President Trump has a clear message: If you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you," Noem warns. "But if you leave now, you may have an opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American Dream."
In tandem with the advertising campaign, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is offering a $1,000 stipend to those who voluntarily self-deport through the CBP Home App. The administration says undocumented immigrants who self-deport will receive "financial and travel assistance" to help them travel back to their home country. They will reportedly receive the $1,000 once they confirm their return through the app.
While the administration claims that those who participate in the self-deportation program "may preserve the option" to re-enter the U.S. legally in the future, undocumented immigrants in Miami appear not to be taking the bait.
"Aside from obviously hearing about it, I've not seen this be discussed broadly by the community, by immigrants, and in our chats, for example," political activist Thomas Kennedy, a consultant at the Florida Immigrant Coalition, tells New Times. "I really haven't seen a lot of buzz around it."
tweet thisDHS has not responded to New Times' questions about the payment process and how much money it has paid to undocumented immigrants who self-deported from Florida.
Kennedy notes that $1,000 is not much incentive for people to suddenly uproot their lives. He points out that's only about half a month's rent living in Miami.
"I don't think it's enough for people to do that," he says. "Of course, obviously, there's going to be some people who take the offer, but the majority of people are just going to say no. Leaving the United States is more complicated than one day deciding, 'I want $1,000. I'm just going to sell everything, sell my car, sell my apartment, get my kids out of school, quit my job, and take $1,000 and go back to Honduras, Guatemala, or Venezuela.'"
He adds that there is no guarantee those who self-deport will ever be allowed to return.
"I wouldn't trust that," Kennedy argues. "The usual is a 10-year bar on reentry, but I mean, I don't know if [Noem] is referring to an expedited bar, but I just wouldn't trust them, obviously, no way."
An undocumented construction worker in South Florida told CBS News Miami that he would rather stay in the country than take the money, considering "nothing is guaranteed."
"I'm not interested and I don't suggest anybody to do it either," he said.
According to a DHS press release, the cost to arrest, detain, and remove an illegal alien is $17,121. The statement notes that the CBP Home app, in conjunction with the stipend program, would decrease those costs by around 70 percent, hypothetically bringing them closer to $5,136.
