Will illegal aliens voluntarily go home?
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 8/1/2008 6:00:00 AM

An immigration reform activist says it remains to be seen just how effective a soon-to-be unveiled program will be in stemming the tide of illegal immigration in the U.S.

Julie Myers, the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told the Spanish-language television network Univision that the program will be called "Operation Scheduled Departure" and will basically allow illegal immigrants without criminal records a chance to literally self-deport by turning themselves in to ICE agents.

She told the network that the idea came about because many illegal alien detainees have said that, if given the opportunity, they would rather just go home than be held in immigration prisons.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says it is a great idea in principle.

"We have long said that the best way to deal with the problem of illegal immigration is to create conditions under which the illegal immigrants would decide voluntarily [that] it is time to go home," says Mehlman. "And you do that by making it clear that there is no benefit to remaining in the United States illegally. [That] you're not going to gain anything by remaining here."

Mehlman continues, saying "if ICE is going to continue to enforce laws in the workplace, if they're going to continue to make it harder and harder for people to remain in the country illegally, then such a program does have a chance at working."

The activist says he is going to take a wait-and-see approach until the details of the program are released by ICE next week.
http://www.onenewsnow.com:80/Politics/D ... ?id=198550