The Trump administration is offering to provide unaccompanied migrant teens aged 14 and older with a one-time $2,500 stipend if they choose to voluntarily return to their home countries, Washington Post reports.
The offer marks an expansion of the administration’s self-deportation initiatives to include minors.
Detailed in a memo from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, the offer was sent to shelters housing migrant youth and targets unaccompanied children, known as UACs, who crossed the United States’ southern border without a parent or guardian.
According to the memo and multiple sources familiar with the programme, the payment would be disbursed only after an immigration judge approves the voluntary departure request and the teen arrives back in their country of origin.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials clarified that the programme is initially rolling out to 17-year-olds, with Mexican nationals ineligible due to separate repatriation protocols.
“This voluntary option gives UACs a choice and allows them to make an informed decision about their future,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
“Access to financial support when returning home would assist should they choose that option.”
The administration has framed the incentive as a resettlement aid to help teens reintegrate upon return, building on a May executive order that established a self-deportation programme offering $1,000 to undocumented adults and families who depart via a government app and free flight.
The move comes amid broader efforts to accelerate removals of undocumented immigrants, including recent “welfare checks” on unaccompanied children released from federal care and attempts to deport Guatemalan minors with pending asylum claims, a policy blocked last month by a federal judge.
Since President Trump took office in January, the average stay for unaccompanied children in government shelters has risen to 171 days as of July, up from 37 days the prior month, due to heightened sponsor vetting.
The administration reports that more than 2 million undocumented individuals have been removed or self-deported in the first eight months of the term.
Immigration advocates have sharply criticised the programme, which they called exploitative and a violation of protections under the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorisation Act that mandates screening for trafficking risks and credible fears of persecution before any departure.
“There is no legitimate reason for the government to affirmatively provide children with this option and incentivize it with a financial payoff,” said Neha Desai, managing director of Children’s Human Rights & Dignity at the National Centre for Youth Law.
Melissa Adamson, an attorney with the same organisation, added that “dangling money before vulnerable children distorts this process and could endanger their lives,” emphasising the need for legal guidance over cash incentives.
While voluntary departure has long been available to unaccompanied minors, typically requiring judicial approval and attorney consultation, experts noted that actively promoting it with financial enticements is unprecedented.
The programme does not affect children under 14 or those already in active immigration proceedings.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has not released data on expected participation rates or the total budget allocated for the stipends.
As of Friday, the initiative was described as part of a multifaceted strategy to reduce unauthorised migration, though its long-term impact on border arrivals remains unclear.
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