The Trump administration is now offering teen migrants a $2,500 stipend to leave the United States voluntarily, according to several reports citing a letter sent Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement to shelters housing migrant children.
According to the letter seen by Reuters and other outlets, the department will provide a "one-time resettlement support stipend of $2,500" to unaccompanied children 14 or older.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not confirm the monetary amount to Fox News Digital but said Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) could access financial support when returning home, should they choose that option.
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"Any payment to support a return home would be provided after an immigration judge grants the request and the individual arrives in their country of origin," Emily Covington, assistant director of ICE's Office of Public Affairs, said in a statement. She said the offer was first being made to 17-year-olds.
Covington said that cartels had trafficked countless unaccompanied children into the United States during the Biden Administration, and that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and HHS have been working diligently to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those children.
"Many of these UACs had no choice when they were dangerously smuggled into this country," she said. "ICE and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement at HHS are offering a strictly voluntary option to return home to their families."
Minors from Mexico are not eligible for the program, but children who had already volunteered to leave the U.S. as of Friday would be covered, the letter reportedly says.
The Associated Press reported that some immigration advocates had warned of a broader removal campaign they called "Freaky Friday."
ICE rejected that claim, with Covington calling it "categorically false" and saying the phrase was fabricated to "instill fear and spread misinformation that drives the increased violence occurring against federal law enforcement."
The move is part of President Donald Trump's campaign promise of carrying out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.
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Last month, DHS said that two million illegal immigrants "have been removed or have self-deported" from the United States since Jan. 20, putting the Trump administration on pace to break records.
In less than 250 days, an estimated 1.6 million illegal immigrants voluntarily self-deported, while 400,000 were removed by federal law enforcement, the DHS said, describing the situation as a "new milestone."
In May, Trump signed an executive order establishing the first-ever self-deportation program that incentivizes illegal migrants to voluntarily leave the country on a free flight and with a cash bonus.
Homeland Security said that migrants were being offered a $1,000 stipend each to leave. The department said it is 70% cheaper for American taxpayers, as it currently costs DHS, on average, over $17,000 to arrest, detain and deport someone.
In June, the State Department moved $250 million to DHS for voluntary deportations.
Shaina Aber, the executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, a nonprofit that provides legal defense to immigrants, said in a statement that the $2,500 stipend undermines due process and may expose children to renewed trafficking cycles.
She said some of these children were trafficked into the U.S., often by cartels or smugglers, and if they are sent back without safeguards, they could fall back into the hands of the same traffickers.
"DHS's message is confusing and seems to fly in the face of established laws and protocols that Congress passed to protect children from cyclical trafficking risks," Aber said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
