Miami Herald


Posted on Wed, Aug. 06, 2008
Self-deportation program criticized as `a fantasy'
BY LAURA ISENSEE
Federal authorities debuted a new strategy this week for tracking down undocumented immigrants: Turn yourself in and deport yourself.
Dubbed ''Operation Scheduled Departure,'' the pilot program was launched Tuesday in five cities nationwide: Santa Ana and San Diego in California; Phoenix; Chicago, and Charlotte, N.C.

It runs through Aug. 22 and could expand to other cities and states, including Florida, ''depending on its success,'' said Nicole Navas, spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

`IT'S ABSURD'

Local immigration advocates ridiculed the pilot program. The consensus: It's going to be a hard sell.

'If they think people are going to leave before being detained, go to the office and say `Here I am,' it's absurd,'' said Nora Sandigo, executive director of Miami-based American Fraternity.

''It's a fantasy very far from reality,'' Sandigo said.

The program is part of the federal government's latest effort to combat illegal immigration following last year's failed effort in Congress to reform the immigration system.

Currently, an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, including between 800,000 and 950,000 in Florida, live in the United States, according to a 2005 study by Pew Hispanic Center. Through the initiative, only those immigrants with final orders of deportation can turn themselves in to authorities. Some may arrange for family members to go with them.

Those who qualify will not be sent to a detention center to await final deportation. Instead, they will be placed under supervision and may be required to wear an electronic monitoring device.

Ineligible for the program are those with criminal records and those who have remained undetected by federal authorities. They would be detained through the regular deportation process.

Immigration advocates argue that the current anti-immigrant sentiment along with the economic downturn are already causing many undocumented immigrants to return home on their own.

''I get a sense of real frustration on their part,'' said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. ``They're feeling very unwelcome and add to that a tanking economy which is making it more difficult for them to earn a decent living.''

The self-deportation program offers no long-term solution, said Jose Lagos, head of Honduran Unity, a Miami-based nonprofit. ''The solution is comprehensive immigration reform,'' he said.

Voluntary departure is something local anti-illegal immigration group Citizens of Dade United has lobbied for several years, said Enos Schera, vice president of the group.

''It's a good idea because they'll be leaving on their own,'' Schera said.

Federal officials say they are confident they are on the right course. ICE Director Julie Myers said eligible immigrants now have the opportunity to leave the country with, in some cases, the government paying the travel costs.

Myers has gone to Spanish-language airwaves to promote the program. Appearing on Univisión, she told anchor Jorge Ramos: ``The program basically gives an opportunity to those seeking an organized way to self-deport.''

BUSED HOME

The federal government tried a similar strategy in 2004 when it set up daily flights from Tucson, Ariz., to Mexico City or Guadalajara for Mexican nationals caught along the U.S. border. From there, immigrants were bused to their hometowns. The $13 million voluntary repatriation program was meant to lessen deaths in the desert and restrict smuggling rings.

Whether undocumented immigrants buy into the program remains to be seen, but some like Armando Lacayo, who lives in South Florida, wouldn't rule it out if deemed eligible.

''Loneliness, anxiety, years away from your family and home -- it overwhelms you,'' said Lacayo, 41, who left behind his wife and two sons in his native Nicaragua. He plans to join them soon.

''I prefer to leave on my own,'' Lacayo said.





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