Friday, August 22, 2008

Feds Scrap Immigrant Self-Deportation Program

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A pilot program allowing illegal immigrants to surrender to authorities and have more control over their deportation has been dubbed a failure. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it is ending its "Scheduled Departure" program when the three-week trial concludes Friday. Only eight people participated in the program, officials said. "Quite frankly, I think this proves the only method that works is enforcement," Jim Hayes, acting director of ICE's detention and removal operations, told The Associated Press on Thursday. ICE said it hatched the plan to give illegal immigrants more control over their departure and to quell criticism by immigrant advocates that its enforcement efforts were disruptive to families. While immigrant rights activists ridiculed the program, they're now worried its failure will embolden enforcement. Immigrant advocates said the program flopped because it offered few incentives for illegal immigrants to step forward since they would be barred from returning to the country for as long as a decade. ICE offered the program to 457,000 illegal immigrants nationwide who have ignored judicial orders to leave the country but have no criminal record. They were promised up to 90 days to plan their exit and coordinate travel with relatives.

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