US plans $2,500 incentive for migrant teens to return home voluntarily

The scheme, initially targeting 17-year-olds in federal custody, offers $2,500 to return home voluntarily, raising concerns it could pressure minors to abandon asylum claims and legal protections

The Trump administration is preparing a programme to offer unaccompanied migrant teenagers in federal custody $2,500 to voluntarily return to their home countries, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The initiative is set to start with 17-year-olds and will provide the payment after an immigration judge approves the minor’s request and they successfully return home, according to a Bloomberg report.

 

HHS, which manages the Office of Refugee Resettlement, said the programme is designed to give children who arrived in the US without family the option to choose their future. Officials stressed that participation would be voluntary and aimed at allowing minors to make informed decisions about returning to their countries of origin. 

Concerns over impact on minors

Child advocates and immigration lawyers have raised concerns that the programme could expand beyond 17-year-olds, potentially affecting children as young as 14. Critics warned that it could pressure minors to withdraw applications for asylum or other protections and bypass legal safeguards that normally protect children from deportation before reaching adulthood.

 

Wendy Young, president of legal aid group Kids in Need of Defense, called the programme an “egregious abuse of power.” She said the initiative undermines existing laws meant to protect unaccompanied children and contravenes America’s long-standing commitment to safeguard vulnerable minors from violence, trafficking, abuse, and persecution.

 

“Every child in US custody must have access to the rights and protections guaranteed under US law,” Young added, urging the Department of Homeland Security to halt the operation immediately. 

Legal protections for immigrant children

Immigrant children are typically granted higher legal protections than adults under US law, including provisions from a decades-old court settlement that restricts government detention. While adults are not guaranteed legal representation, minors in immigration proceedings often face the system without a lawyer to guide them.

 

As of August, HHS reported that around 2,000 unaccompanied immigrant children were in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.