Donald Trump thinks that immigrants are "animals," but now he has an offer for them that he hopes they can't refuse.
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Donald Trump’s entire political career is built on xenophobia and stigmatizing undocumented immigrants as rabid criminals who invaded the United States for nefarious purposes. In the first three months of his second term, this has culminated in a series of cruel and unconstitutional actions targeting anybody from “illegals” to foreign college students who dared to voice opinions that run counter to the administration’s view of the world.
Now, after instilling a sense of fear in immigrants that they or a loved one could be the next target whisked from the streets by masked goons and taken to an undisclosed location that could be in Louisiana or El Salvador or perhaps Libya, Trump, the self-proclaimed dealmaker extraordinaire, has an offer for the people he has called “animals”: If you self-deport, we’ll give you a free plane ticket to wherever you want to go and some money. Just contact my government and all will be good. If you don’t, we’ll come for you.
Sounds enticing.
The whole thing is called “Project Homecoming,” and Trump announced it on Friday.
“Any illegal alien can simply show up at an airport and receive a free flight out of our country,” the president said in a taped video, adding that those who choose to self-deport would also get an unspecified amount of money as a bonus.
Trump explained that there is also an app that immigrants can use to book their flight to any country in the world (presumably this refers to their respective home countries).
And the cherry on top of this amazing offer is that, if individuals self-deport, maybe they can come back one day.
“So, to all illegal aliens, book your free flights right now,” Trump said. “We want you out of America, but if you’re really good, we’re gonna try to help you get back in.”
That does sound awesome!
Of course, wherever there is an incredibly dubious carrot, there is also a very believable stick.
Trump put any undocumented immigrant who chooses not to self-deport on notice that his administration is coming for them.
“Illegal aliens who stay in America face severe punishments, including significant jail time, enormous financial penalties, confiscation of all property, garnishment of all wages, imprisonment and incarceration, and sudden deportation in a place and manner solely of our discretion,” Trump stated.
Frankly, we are a bit skeptical that, in the current climate and based on how this administration treats and talks about them, any immigrant will be eager to provide personal information to the government via an app or by reaching out to one of its agents at an airport.
After all, it’s not as though anything Trump (or his anti-immigrant henchmen like Stephen Miller and Tom Homan) has said or done over the past decade is particularly trust-inspiring.
Therefore, it remains to be seen how effective this program will be. It’s tough to imagine that anybody other than law-abiding, hard-working immigrants who hope to legalize their status will take advantage of the offer… and they are the ones who provide needed labor and pay taxes.
Also, even if this were to work at all initially, the Trump administration would actually have to follow through on its promises without ever hassling any of the immigrants who report for self-deportation, which also doesn’t seem likely.
Finally, and most importantly, many of the people for whom this offer is intended have put down roots and built lives in the US. They have families, friends, and assets.
While the prospect of being hunted down by ICE agents is obviously not appealing, many of these undocumented migrants must feel that keeping their heads down and hoping for a less self-destructive government in the coming years will be the better option.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often humorous analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
