The president is considering offering a “stipend” and a return ticket to migrants to leave the US.
14ymedio, Madrid, 16 April 2025 — The White House’s reaction to a Boston judge’s decision to suspend the revocation of the Humanitarian Parole Program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans was as expected. “I spoke with the White House counsel’s office about this this morning because, obviously, another rogue district judge is trying to block the administration’s mass deportation efforts with this latest court order,” said spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, in a personal criticism of Judge Indira Talwani.
This was prompted by a Fox News journalist who pointedly asked why Joe Biden was allowed to “suddenly” approve a law while Trump was prevented from repealing it, ignoring the fact that in both cases the law must be followed.
“We will continue to focus on deporting as many people as we can,” Leavitt insisted, to no one’s surprise on a day filled with messages aimed at convincing migrants in the US to self-deport.
One of them came from the president himself, who once again appeared on Fox News to launch a new idea: paying undocumented immigrants to leave. “I haven’t determined what we’re going to do, but we’re going to give them financial assistance. We’re going to give them some money and a plane ticket,” he said. “If they’re good, if we want them to come back, we’ll work with them to get them back as quickly as we can” legally, he added.
“If they’re good, if we want them back, we’ll work with them to get them back as quickly as we can” legally.
In his sights are the 14 million undocumented immigrants in the country, according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute . Of these, just over five million—2.3 million in 2023 and 2.8 million in 2024—arrived in the last two years, many thanks to one of the programs approved by Joe Biden to reduce illegal immigration. The two most criticized by Trump and which affect Cubans are the Humanitarian Parole Program (through which some 530,000 migrants arrived legally in the country) and CBP One, the dating app also suspended by the White House. In addition, there are those who were detained at the border and are living free on parole with the permit known as I-220A.
All of them have mobilized to legally halt the president’s decisions, and although they have achieved some small victories, Trump does not intend to relent. Therefore, taking advantage of the fear factor, the most recent measures involve convincing migrants that it is best to return to their countries of origin on their own, before they are detained.
“Self-deport now or face the consequences,” Customs and Border Protection (CBP) threatened Tuesday on its X account . The agency recently launched CBP Home, a kind of CBP One in reverse, that is, to express their decision to leave the country. Users must fill out a form with their information, their photograph, and the answers to a questionnaire and submit it, thus informing authorities of their intentions.
Along the same lines of threat is Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks, who also posted the link to the app on Tuesday with a warning. “Last chance to self-deport on your own terms. CBP Home is available now. If you don’t, DHS will remove you and prohibit you from returning,” he wrote. To date, more than 5,000 people have registered using the platform, but for many, there is no greater threat than what awaits them in their countries, nor money with which to buy their willingness to prosper in a place that offers opportunities.
It’s unclear whether the intention to pay a “stipend” and a return ticket to those who choose to leave is just another presidential idea or is actually on the table, but at first glance, it doesn’t seem like a measure consistent with the Trump administration’s stated intention to save money.
This Tuesday, the president signed an executive order restricting the use of Social Security by migrants.
This Tuesday, the president signed an executive order restricting the use of Social Security by immigrants, leaving those in the country illegally without its benefits. In this case, the title of the order is “Preventing Undocumented Aliens from Obtaining Benefits Under the Social Security Act.” Trump maintains in the text that it is “urgent that taxpayer-funded benefits be provided only to eligible individuals and do not encourage or reward illegal immigration.”
The text directs the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Commissioner of Social Security to coordinate with the Secretary of Homeland Security to “ensure that ineligible aliens do not receive funds.”
In addition, the Attorney General and Social Security are ordered to cooperate in “assigning and accrediting the necessary special assistant U.S. attorneys” to strengthen oversight during this fiscal year. Special scrutiny is also planned for those covered by the Medicaid and Medicare programs.
The order states that a 2023 audit revealed missing information about the deaths of “millions of holders” and that there has been neglect in investigating and resolving income reports received by people 100 years of age or older, casting doubt on the illegality of some grants.
“Within 60 days of the date of this memorandum, the Commissioner of Social Security will review whether, and under what conditions, the application of civil monetary penalties should be resumed” and if “reinstatement is determined to be warranted, shall immediately resume the program or seek regulatory or policy changes that would allow for its timely resumption,” the document adds.
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