A contentious new program that offers state-funded one-way flights to immigrants who consent to self-deport rather than be detained has been introduced by Florida officials in collaboration with federal immigration authorities.
The Washington Examiner was the first to report on the project, which has been discreetly running for a few weeks. Under Governor Ron DeSantis, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, Florida’s law enforcement and federal immigration agendas are becoming more aligned.
State officials claim that when local law enforcement, such as the Florida Highway Patrol, detain immigrants, they transport them to federal Border Patrol facilities where they are given the choice of accepting a free flight back to their home country or possibly being detained while they await immigration proceedings.
Kevin Guthrie, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, stated, “We give them that one last chance and you can quote me on this to do the right thing, and that is self-deport.” If they do that, the state of Florida will pay for that inexpensive, one-way flight to assist them in returning home from Florida.
The scheme, according to officials, provides a quicker and more economical option than months of incarceration in a backlogged immigration system. Through the CBP One mobile app, a comparable federal initiative provides self-deportation choices and $1,000 rewards.
Critics: Inherently Coercive
However, the program’s design has alarmed immigration advocates and legal experts, who claim it violates due process rights and is coercive.
The practice is fundamentally coercive, according to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, who noted that people are frequently pressured to make life-altering decisions in a matter of hours while facing the possibility of being detained in Florida’s most severe immigration facility.
“There are serious dueprocess issues with this program,” Reichlin-Melnick commented on X. Under the prospect of being imprisoned in conditions that everyone knows to be unfavorable, people are being compelled to leave their homes, families, and employment in the United States with little time to think through the repercussions.
Civil rights organizations have often complained about the state’s main immigration detention facility, known as Alligator Alcatraz, citing subpar conditions, limited access to legal representation, and allegations of cruel treatment.
Expanded Immigration Enforcement in Florida
Under Governor DeSantis, Florida’s initiative is a component of a larger plan to increase state participation in immigration enforcement. The federal 287(g) program, which assigns local policemen to do immigration-related tasks often performed by federal agents, has been promoted by his administration to state and even university police departments.
In Florida’s Latino communities, this increasing collaboration has had a chilling impact. Many locals avoid driving altogether, take cultural emblems out of their automobiles, and stop playing Spanish-language music in public due to their growing fear of frequent traffic stops.
The ACLU and other civil rights organizations worry that these collaborations essentially authorize racial profiling. According to a 2022 investigation that examined 140 local agencies involved in the 287(g) program, 65% of participating sheriffs had documented patterns of racial profiling or civil rights abuses, and 59% had utilized xenophobic, anti-immigrant rhetoric.
According to an ACLU spokeswoman, it is risky to combine state law enforcement with federal immigration enforcement. It results in targeting people not for criminal activity but for their language or skin color.
Florida’s self-deportation program is a clear illustration of how states are pushing the boundaries of their authority in federal immigration enforcement, raising ethical, legal, and humanitarian questions as the immigration issue heats up around the country.
