Julie Myers, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said in an interview with a Spanish-language television station in San Antonio, TX that she will soon announce a new program known as Operation Scheduled Return, which will be of interest to the millions of people residing in the U.S. illegally. The essence of this measure is, in short: Why should an illegal immigrant run the risk of being arrested? Turn yourself in to the authorities and you will be guaranteed a quick, comfortable trip to your native country, courtesy of the Federal government.
According to official figures, there are 13 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., but even this number is an estimate. The government has long racked its brain over how to reduce the size of this restless army that has caused the country and its legal residents so many inconveniences.
Myers clarified that this measure will primarily concern illegal immigrants with a criminal record. These immigrants do all they can to avoid contact with the federal government and generally do not like to be visible, which is understandable because they would be arrested right away and sent to an immigration jail for further proceedings that frequently drag on for months and years. But in fact, Operation Scheduled Departure is intended for people who are evading justice. They are guaranteed immediate departure for their country of origin and they receive a promise that they will not be arrested. After documents are processed and trip preparations made, they are sent home. Myers called this procedure “self-deportation.”
At the same time, Myers made it clear that illegal immigrants who surrender will not be eligible for amnesty or even the tiniest bit of leniency. When journalists asked ICE spokespeople in San Antonio, Dallas and Washington about the program, the spokespeople stubbornly remained silent, making it clear that complete information will only be made public during the official presentation introducing the new measure.
Immigrant rights advocates have met the announcement with skepticism. They are convinced that the measure is doomed to fail unless strong incentives are attached to it for those who throw themselves at the mercy of the government.
“This is pure fantasy,” said Doug Rivlin, press secretary for the National Immigration Forum in Washington. “Do they really think that people will deny themselves their rights and will act without consulting an attorney? If they want to leave the country, they will be more likely to buy a train or bus ticket. Why would they surrender?”
Ira Melman is the spokesperson for the Federation of American Immigration Reform, the largest non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington that is against illegal immigration. While he agrees with the ICE’s overall idea, he believes that the government should provide additional incentives for surrendering. For example, by leaving voluntarily, a person would retain the right to reenter the U.S. legally.
Most commentators have remained silent for the time being, anticipating that important details will be revealed in the official announcement. As they say, the devil is in the details. But comparisons have already been made to a similar program which another Federal agency added to its arsenal three years ago. At that time the Justice Department gave its blessing to a program called Fugitive Safe Surrender intended for people convicted of non-violent crimes. Sixteen thousand people have since surrendered to authorities under this program.
Comments that I read on the Internet were highly critical of the new federal program. For example, someone with the screen name “catdestroyer” sarcastically wrote: “When I see that our government is doing yet another stupid thing, I am amazed that it has not learned from its mistakes. If illegal immigrants were scared of being arrested, they would never have come to our country. This is part of their mentality. Why should they surrender? Whose idiotic logic is this? The only thing that will make illegal immigrants use this program is the desire to go home for Christmas, Easter, Mexican holidays or family occasions on the government’s dime. After they’ve lived it up and laughed at the idiots at the ICE, they will quietly re-enter the U.S. And they will probably be surprised that no one has paid for their ticket.”
