EXCLUSIVE — The state of Florida and Border Patrol are allowing illegal immigrants encountered during traffic stops to self-deport to their country of origin through an initiative funded by the state’s taxpayers, the Washington Examiner was first to learn.
The Florida Highway Patrol and Florida Division of Emergency Management have partnered with Border Patrol’s Miami Sector to allow illegal immigrants in Border Patrol custody to voluntarily depart the country and bypass long-term detention. The program has not been publicly announced but has been in effect for several weeks and has seen early success, three federal and state officials told the Washington Examiner this week.
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“This is the first partnership of its kind across the nation between [the Department of Homeland Security] and a state government to focus on the voluntary, expeditious removal of illegal aliens,” said Jeffrey J. Dinise, chief patrol agent for Border Patrol’s Miami region.
“The program allows illegal aliens that are noncriminal, that are apprehended by the Border Patrol and the state of Florida law enforcement officers that are 287(g)-trained, to choose whether they want to immediately return to their country of origin or remain in DHS custody pending an immigration hearing with an immigration judge,” Dinise said.
While Florida declined to say how much it’s spending on commercial deportation flights or how many immigrants have left, state and federal officials said this pilot partnership between the Trump and DeSantis administrations could help speed up the mass deportation operation.
The program is modeled after, but not related to, the DHS self-deportation program, which has garnered criticism from immigration lawyers, and further expands President Donald Trump’s national effort to remove criminal and noncriminal illegal immigrants from the country.
A state version of the federal program
The program was modeled after a phone app called CBP Home, which stands for Customs and Border Protection Home. Early on in the Trump administration, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem pushed illegal immigrants living in the United States to use the app to notify the government of plans to leave the country and self-deport to avoid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Immigrants who choose to depart voluntarily can control the circumstances around their departure as opposed to being arrested by ICE and possibly being detained for months.
“There’s a significant backlog to see an immigration judge … and so those people are sitting right now in DHS custody in an immigration detention facility, and we’re paying for them to sit,” Dinise said. “This is a much more expeditious way. It does free up DHS and state resources so we’re not having to watch those people in custody.”
To be eligible to self-deport, immigrants at Border Patrol stations must not have a criminal record.
Those approved through the CBP Home app will have their travel paid for, receive an additional $1,000 stipend through the federal government, and have any fines for previous failure to depart be waived.
The state program does not include a stipend and only covers the ride to the airport in Florida and the flight home.
Kevin Guthrie, executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said the state operation takes into account that at the time of arrest, immigrants may not have their cellphone on them and be able to download the CBP Home app and wait for departure approval, so the state strategy to encourage self-deportation was made much easier.
“These are individuals that conscientiously chose not to participate in that [CBP Home] program. They’ve been picked up. They are now in custody. They are in a CBP station, but we give them that one last chance — and you can quote me on this — to do the right thing, and that is self-deport. And if they do that, then we, the state of Florida, will help them get from Florida back to their home country by purchasing that low-cost, one-way flight,” Guthrie said.
How it works
Earlier this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) strongly encouraged state and county law enforcement to become deputized to carry out certain immigration tasks through the Immigration and Nationality Act’s 287(g) program.
During a ride-along with Florida Highway Patrol in July, the Washington Examiner saw state troopers who were deputized to work with Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement stop drivers for traffic offenses and turn them over to federal immigration authorities in the region.
In the past, Florida state troopers who pulled over a vehicle with illegal immigrants inside could not bring those individuals to federal agents.
As of March, deputized state troopers have the legal authority to transport illegal immigrants to federal authorities, creating a pipeline of new detainees awaiting longer-term detention. Illegal immigrants are detained for hours or a few days at Border Patrol or ICE facilities in Florida before being sent to long-term detention facilities.
At Border Patrol stations in Florida, federal agents give immigrants the option to volunteer to leave the U.S. to avoid legal proceedings and detention.
If an immigrant agrees to leave, they are referred to a Florida Division of Emergency Management representative at a Border Patrol station to coordinate a flight home in the next day or two, according to Dinise.
“It’s a partnership between the two of us. Border Patrol is doing the processing, but with our state partners, we’re fulfilling the actual voluntary return,” Dinise said.
The state currently uses Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for flights, but it plans to expand to additional airports in the “near future,” Dinise added.
The state trooper then walks the immigrant through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint and to the gate, ensuring the individual boards and that the plane departs, according to Florida Highway Patrol Executive Director Dave Kerner.
The three state and federal officials who spoke with the Washington Examiner declined to provide the number of illegal immigrants who had opted to self-deport through the state program.
Additionally, Florida is offering the option to self-deport to illegal immigrants who are brought to a site in the Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz,” a “state facility operating underneath the 287(g) [authority],” Guthrie said.
No one at “Alligator Alcatraz” has opted to self-deport since the site opened earlier this month. Guthrie said “most” illegal immigrants detained at “Alligator Alcatraz” were individuals who were ordered deported. Detainees at the site also include criminals, who are not given the option to self-deport through the state effort.
Dinise expects the DHS to “open the aperture” and expand the state self-deportation effort to illegal immigrants who are in ICE custody as well.
Legal ramifications and concerns
Guthrie proactively maintained that flights purchased for illegal immigrants who choose to self-deport are inexpensive. For example, next-day, one-way flights from Fort Lauderdale to Guatemala City were readily available at less than $100, Guthrie said. A search for flights revealed next-day and even same-day flights to Central American and Mexican cities at similar price points.
“We’re providing them a low-cost option to the taxpayer and a way to pay,” Guthrie said. “This is 100% the most cost-effective way of dealing with an individual that is a illegal immigrant, or, I’ll say, illegal detainee, here in the state of Florida.”
Immigrants who choose to self-deport may have a chance to reenter the U.S. in the future.
“[Noem] has been very clear in her PSA announcements that if you make us do it for you, you will never come back to this country,” Guthrie said. “This is an opportunity for them to work hand in hand with an individual and basically make the right decision, which is to self-deport, so that they have the ability to come back into the country, maybe at a later point in time.”
The American Immigration Lawyers Association issued a statement in May warning that immigrants who leave the country through the CBP Home app may be unable to return.
“AILA cautions individuals when reviewing the announcement to understand it is deceptive and gives people the impression there are no consequences, such as being barred from returning in the future,” AILA said in a statement. “No one should accept this without first obtaining good legal advice from an immigration attorney or other qualified representative.”
However, other legal challenges could pop up. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, the American Immigration Council’s senior fellow, warned that someone who self-deports and does not have a criminal record would be unable to return to the U.S. through a visa for 10 years.
Reichlin-Melnick was also concerned that immigrants in Border Patrol detention may not have adequate time to make a thoughtful decision or access to legal counsel to know their rights and understand the immigration court process.
“This situation is inherently coercive,” Reichlin-Melnick said in a phone call with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. “Fundamentally, decisions about where and how to leave the country often require the assistance of a lawyer to know what the consequences are going to be.”
A DAY WITH FLORIDA STATE TROOPERS NABBING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOR ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’
Immigrants who choose to self-deport through the state program may be unaware of legitimate ways that they can avoid deportation, and they may be under the impression that returning to the U.S. following self-deportation will be easier than it actually might be.
“Many individuals who leave the United States will never be able to come back in,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “There is no line that they can stand in or pathway that they can enter. The legal immigration system is not an option for them.”