“Any illegal immigrant can simply come to an airport and receive a free flight outside our country,” said Donald Trump by signing a decree to encourage some to “self-express” from the United States, by offering them free flights abroad.
While his massive expulsion program of illegal immigrants is thwarted by justice, the republican president says he wants to facilitate “as much as possible the departure of foreigners in an irregular situation”, in a video shared on his social social platform.
Today, I signed an Executive Order to launch the first-ever self-deportation program. Illegal aliens who stay in America face punishments, including—sudden deportation, in a place and manner solely of our discretion. TO ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS: BOOK YOUR FREE FLIGHT RIGHT NOW!
From… pic.twitter.com/49RLT5UfJe
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 10, 2025
He also explained that the people concerned could reserve a flight directly via an application on a mobile phone. “As long as it’s not here, you can go where you want,” said the republican billionaire.
At the same time, he warned that those who will remain on American soil will expose himself to “sanctions, in particular to a sudden expulsion, in a place and in a way left at our only discretion”.
His government had announced on Monday that he was going to allocate a sum of $ 1,000 to immigrants who will start from their own free will, in addition to covering their transport costs. Donald Trump said that people choosing to follow this path could “perhaps one day” be offered to return to the United States legally.
A priority for Donald Trump
The Ministry of Internal Security (DHS) stressed in a press release that this procedure would “allow to lower the costs of an expulsion of around 70 %”, while the average cost of the arrest, the detention and the expulsion of an immigrant in an irregular situation in the United States is currently $ 17,121, according to him.
He had specified that a person from Honduras had already benefited from this program to return to his country.
Donald Trump erected the fight against illegal immigration in absolute priority of his second term, evoking an “invasion” of the United States by “criminals from abroad” and communicating abundantly on immigrant expulsions. The new tenant of the White House had promised during his inauguration to “return millions and millions of criminal foreigners where they come from”.
The day after his election to the White House, a text adopted by the Congress planned to automatically place migrants in an irregular situation already condemned or charged for certain crimes.
The fact remains that its massive expulsion program has already been thwarted or slowed down by multiple court decisions.
