Trump administration offers migrant children cash to self-deport

Source: Washington Post

DHS said the program was “strictly voluntary” and aimed at helping children return to their families. Immigrant advocates likened it to “cash bribes for kids.”

The Trump administration is offering $2,500 to unaccompanied migrant children ages 14 and older if they return to their home countries voluntarily, according to officials and records reviewed by The Washington Post.

A government record detailing the “Family Assistance Reintegration Program” says that minors residing in U.S. Health and Human Services shelters will be eligible. An average of 2,000 minors were in shelters as of August, according to agency data.

Department of Homeland Security officials said Friday the financial assistance will first be offered to 17-year-olds. They described the program as “strictly voluntary” and aimed at helping children return to their families. Minors will be given the money only after an immigration judge grants their request to depart the United States and they return home, the department said.

“Cartels trafficked countless unaccompanied children into the United States during the Biden Administration, and DHS and HHS have been working diligently to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those children,” federal immigration officials said in a statement.

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