Trump administration to offer $2,500 to migrant teens to voluntarily leave US

The Trump administration is working on a plan to offer money to unaccompanied migrant teenagers to return home, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Under the new program, 17-year-olds who choose to return to their home countries and leave the US will receive $2,500. The money will be transferred once an immigration judge approves their request and they reach their origin countries, a source told Bloomberg.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the Office of Refugee Resettlement, stated that the program is intended to offer options for children who entered the US without their families.

Officials explained that it aims to support unaccompanied minors, many of whom were smuggled into the country without their consent, by allowing them to choose whether to return to their home countries. They emphasised that the initiative is voluntary and designed to help children make informed decisions about their futures.

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Lawyers oppose move

The proposed plan has invited criticism from advocates and immigration lawyers who said that the program is likely to expand and include those beyond 17 years of age, and possibly include children as young as 14 years old.

They expressed concern that the program might pressure minors to withdraw protection applications, such as asylum, and to give up legal safeguards that typically protect children from deportation until they turn 18.

“This operation undermines laws that guarantee that process for unaccompanied children, and it runs counter to our nation’s longstanding commitment to protect the most vulnerable among us – children – from violence, trafficking, abuse, persecution, and other grave dangers,” Wendy Young, president of the legal aid and advocacy group Kids in Need of Defense said.

What about migrant children?

In a late-night operation on August 30, the administration informed shelters housing unaccompanied migrant children that the children would be returned to Guatemala and needed to be prepared for departure within hours.

“Our clients were terrified—many had tear-soaked faces and some were visibly shaking with fear,” Mishan Wroe, directing attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, one of the plaintiff attorneys, said in a statement.

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However, last month, a US judge blocked President Donald Trump’s bid to deport Guatemalan children who came to the country alone.