Latest news with #selfdeportation
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
‘I have no record': Harvard grad brought to US as child self-deports to Mexico
An undocumented Harvard University graduate who had been living in the U.S. since he was a small child recently decided to self-deport to Mexico amid the Trump administration's wide-ranging immigration crackdown. Francisco Hernandez-Corona, 34, had been living in Texas until about a month ago with his husband, a U.S. citizen. With the new administration in power, however, he soon grew so afraid of being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that he stopped driving and wouldn't answer the door. The psychology graduate feared being detained because of a traffic stop by a cooperating local police department, as many immigrants have, or being sent against his will to an unfamiliar third country with poor human rights conditions like El Salvador. There, U.S. deportees are housed in a mega-prison with little hope of release from a facility which has been compared to a 'tropical gulag.' 'We started seeing ICE everywhere and people sent to El Salvador,' Hernandez-Corona told NBC News. Francisco Hernandez-Corona previously sought protection under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (NewsNation screengrab) The move back to Mexico was all the more striking because Hernandez-Corona said he would not typically be a top priority for deportation. 'I have no criminal record,' he told NewsNation. 'I have a work permit, right? I wasn't in a situation where I felt like I'm going to be deported tomorrow.' Still, despite getting married and settling in Texas, Hernandez-Corona was always at some level of risk. At the age of 10, his father arranged for him to be smuggled across the border, and Hernandez-Corona later applied for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which staves off deportation but doesn't grant full legal status. Hernandez-Corona later declined to renew his DACA status, instead seeking a visa through another program, which was not granted in time. Though the Harvard grad paid for his own airfare to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the Trump administration has offered undocumented migrants who self-depot $1,000, government-paid flights, and the chance to later legally apply for U.S. status. Last week, the administration said its first such repatriation flight took place, sending 68 back migrants to Colombia and Honduras.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Young Nicaraguan family who came to Vermont legally make shocking decision in wake of Trump migrant crackdown
A young Nicaraguan family who came to the US legally have decided to self-deport amid President Donald Trump 's migrant crackdown. Andrea and Nahomy Chavarría, two sisters who moved to Vermont in 2024 under Joe Biden 's administration with their mother and father, had to graduate early from Champlain Valley Union High School in April and pack their bags to head back to their home country. Now, with Trump back in office, he has not only tried to get criminals and gang members out of the US, but has also made it a point to get those without citizenship and people who entered under Biden's humanitarian programs to leave as well. In late March Trump's administration announced they would be sending out notices to 532,000 immigrants across the US who came in under the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) Parole Program, informing them that they would be deported or had to leave the US willingly. Initially, when Trump was re-elected, the family was nervous but remained confident and determined to go on with their lives in America, but when the girls' father, Bernardino Chavarría, came across an article on the president's new initiative on March 21, he soon realized his family's reality. He quickly informed his wife and daughters of the news that their legal status would be revoked in about a month, leaving them with a hard decision - to stay and wait to be deported or leave at their own will. After a couple days, the family mulled over the idea as both Andrea, 19, and Nahomy, 18, reflected on their time in the States and dreams they hoped to accomplish after graduating. 'We are always trying to understand, trying to not make mistakes. We wanted [the US] to know that we are glad that we are here,' Andrea told The Boston Globe. She dreamed of attending veterinary school in the US while her younger sister wanted to go to college to study civil engineering to one day build affordable housing for low income communities, they told the outlet. 'We had plans. I was dreaming of what I could do,' Andrea added. The family-of-four soon realized that if they chose to stay it would be unclear if they could graduate high school, go to college, start a professional career, or even a family in the US. According to Andrea, the current administration was 'basically pushing you to be illegal.' The girls' uncle, Wilmer Chavarría, was heartbroken to learn his nieces, brother and sister-in-law were leaving the country, but he also knew it was in their best interest to do so. Wilmer, who works as a school superintendent in Winooski - about 40 minutes outside of Montpelier - bought a three-bedroom home in 2024 with his husband Cyrus Dudgeon and took in his family. Bernardino and his wife Auxiliadora Amado soon got jobs as custodians at a local school district before he went on to become a multilingual liaison for another district, he told the outlet. Soon enough, they applied for legal permission for them to permanently stay in the US while their daughters enrolled in school and got jobs at a nearby supermarket. Despite all of their best efforts to establish roots in America, Wilmer knew what was best for his loved ones. 'It wasn't only about the parole program being terminated for everybody on a specific date,' he said. 'It was also that the conditions were being created so that it would be impossible to stay.' After hearing of the hard decision they had to make, Wilmer said his family felt the Trump's administration was telling them: 'We don't want you.' On April 23 - just one day before the administration's deadline for those in the country under CHNV - his brother's family packed up and headed to Burlington Airport. Wilmer and his husband took them there as he decided to travel with them back to Nicaragua and get them settled in. Dudgeon, who said goodbye before they got to security, said he was emotional, but it wasn't just sadness that he felt. 'Of course I'm sad, but mostly angry. It's going to be weird being in that big house,' he said. About a month after he had to part ways with his family, Wilmer said they were 'lucky' they were about to choose what happened to them, unlike other families. 'They were lucky that they are one of the few families that get to make that choice,' he told NBC5. 'There are a lot of families that can not make that choice to simply leave for different reasons.' He also expressed his gratitude toward his niece's former school for allowing them to still graduate and get the recognition they deserved. 'They made an exception; they created a ceremony just for them. They accelerated their requirements so that they could get their diploma before they got on that plane, and I am very grateful for that,' Wilmer said. Katherine Riley, the girls' former principal, said the school was more than happy to honor Andrea and Nahomy before they left. 'It felt really important to make it celebratory and to make it reflect kind of who they are as young adults. It felt nice to be able to do something for them and their family,' Riley told the outlet.
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Maryland advocates argue "self-deport" posters attack immigrants' rights
Posters being put up in immigration courts in Maryland and across the country encouraging immigrants to "self-deport" have advocates calling it an attack on immigrants' right to due process. The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, an immigrant legal services nonprofit with offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., says it's been hearing about the poster from clients since April. Amica's main concern is that the poster doesn't fully explain the consequences that could ultimately prompt people to leave the country forever. Concern for immigrants' legal rights Titled, "A Warning to Self-Deport," the top half of the post goes over the benefits of self-deportation, saying it's safe and there will be future opportunities for returning with legal status. The bottom half of the poster goes over consequences for staying, which include immediate deportation, fines and penalties, and possible imprisonment. CBS News Baltimore Michael Lukens, executive director for Amica, said the poster has been put up in immigration courts and detention facilities. He also said the poster doesn't have credible legal advice. "It talks about taking a self-deport, well, that's not really a thing," Lukens said. "If someone is in front of a judge, they have the right to fight their case. A person can ask for something called involuntary departure to the judge." Lukens said that the poster doesn't get into all of the negative impacts someone could run into if they take this option, which includes being barred from returning to the country and fighting their case in court. "There's a reason we have courts and there's a reason we have attorneys to help people," Lukens said. We don't use posters to try and get people to give up their legal rights," he said. WJZ reached out to the Executive Office for Immigration Review about the poster and concerns raised by Lukens. EOIR conducts removal proceedings in immigration courts. A press secretary for EOIR declined to comment via email. Migrants take Trump's offer to self-deport Meanwhile, the first group of undocumented migrants who took President Donald Trump's $1,000 offer to self-deport arrived in Honduras and Colombia on Monday. In total, 64 migrants took the voluntary charter flight from Houston, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. One of those migrants, 22-year-old Wilson Ariel Saenz, told reporters after arriving in Honduras that he took the offer because things are "ugly" in the U.S. The president said he's open to bringing certain undocumented migrants back into the country. "We're going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in if they're good people," Trump said. "If they're the kind of people that we want in our company." This all comes as the government has cut funding for immigrant legal support services, including a program Amica ran to provide legal support in detention centers. Lukens said Amica will continue to help as much as it can. "Is it efficient? No. Is it as effective? No. Are we doing it unfunded? Yes," Lukens said.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump administration sends 68 immigrants back to Honduras and Colombia on first self-deportation flight
The Trump administration has orchestrated the first repatriation flight of migrants it claims were part of a group of 68 voluntary deportations. The migrants were sent back to Colombia and Honduras on Monday on the first self-deportation flight funded by the government. Thirty-eight Hondurans, including 19 children, were sent to San Pedro Sula in northern Honduras after they were handed $1,000 debit cards from the U.S. government and the offer to apply for legal entry into the U.S. in the future. President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to conduct 'mass deportations' during his second stint in the White House. Experts believe that the offer to self-deport won't encounter high demand and is only set to attract a small number of migrants already thinking about going back. The offer to self-deport comes as the government has also conducted high-profile migrant detentions in the U.S. and as it has flown hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to a top-security prison facility in El Salvador. Kevin Antonio Posadas, from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, had lived in Houston for three years and had already thought about returning to Honduras when the Trump administration revealed its new self deportation offering. 'I wanted to see my family and my mom,' he said, noting how easy the process was. 'You just apply (through the CBP Home app) and in three days you've got it,' he added. The flight departed Houston early on Monday. 'It's good because you save the cost of the flight if you have the intention of leaving,' he said. Posadas added that he hadn't been worried about deportation, and while he had enjoyed living in the U.S., he had been considering leaving for some time. He said he would eventually think about taking up the offer for those who choose to leave of their own volition to apply to enter the U.S. legally. Announcing the Monday flight, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement that 'If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home. If you don't, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation, and will never be allowed to return.' The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that a further 26 migrants on the flight were being taken to Colombia. Antonio Garcia, the Honduran deputy foreign minister, said the government would give the returning migrants $100 in cash and a $200 credit at a government-run store that sells basic goods. He added that four of the children arriving in Honduras on Monday had been born in the U.S. Garcia met the arriving migrants at the airport and said they had told him that being undocumented in the U.S. had grown increasingly challenging, and that the situation was becoming more hostile. They were concerned about going to work. Wilson Paz, the Honduran immigration director, said that fewer Hondurans have been sent back so far compared to last year, noting that 13,500 have been deported this year, compared to more than 15,000 by the same time the previous year. 'I don't think it will be thousands of people who apply for the program,' said Paz. 'Our responsibility is that they come in an orderly fashion, and we support them.'
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Maryland advocates argue "self deport" posters attack immigrants' rights
Posters being put up in immigration courts in Maryland and across the country encouraging immigrants to "self-deport" have advocates calling it an attack on immigrants' right to due process. The Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, an immigrant legal services nonprofit with offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., says it's been hearing about the poster from clients since April. Amica's main concern is that the poster doesn't fully explain the consequences that could ultimately prompt people to leave the country forever. Concern for immigrants' legal rights Titled, "A Warning to Self-Deport," the top half of the post goes over the benefits of self-deportation, saying it's safe and there will be future opportunities for returning with legal status. The bottom half of the poster goes over consequences for staying, which include immediate deportation, fines and penalties, and possible imprisonment. CBS News Baltimore Michael Lukens, executive director for Amica, said the poster has been put up in immigration courts and detention facilities. He also said the poster doesn't have credible legal advice. "It talks about taking a self-deport, well, that's not really a thing," Lukens said. "If someone is in front of a judge, they have the right to fight their case. A person can ask for something called involuntary departure to the judge." Lukens said that the poster doesn't get into all of the negative impacts someone could run into if they take this option, which includes being barred from returning to the country and fighting their case in court. "There's a reason we have courts and there's a reason we have attorneys to help people," Lukens said. We don't use posters to try and get people to give up their legal rights," he said. WJZ reached out to the Executive Office for Immigration Review about the poster and concerns raised by Lukens. EOIR conducts removal proceedings in immigration courts. A press secretary for EOIR declined to comment via email. Migrants take Trump's offer to self-deport Meanwhile, the first group of undocumented migrants who took President Donald Trump's $1,000 offer to self-deport arrived in Honduras and Colombia on Monday. In total, 64 migrants took the voluntary charter flight from Houston, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. One of those migrants, 22-year-old Wilson Ariel Saenz, told reporters after arriving in Honduras that he took the offer because things are "ugly" in the U.S. The president said he's open to bringing certain undocumented migrants back into the country. "We're going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in if they're good people," Trump said. "If they're the kind of people that we want in our company." This all comes as the government has cut funding for immigrant legal support services, including a program Amica ran to provide legal support in detention centers. Lukens said Amica will continue to help as much as it can. "Is it efficient? No. Is it as effective? No. Are we doing it unfunded? Yes," Lukens said.
