After the participation of only eight individuals in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Scheduled Departure Program, the government announced it would end the trial program last Friday. The program was designed to assist 457,000 illegal immigrants across the nation who could turn themselves in by August 22, 2008 at offices in Santa Ana, San Diego, Chicago, Phoenix and Charlotte, North Carolina to be deported without being detained. Eligible illegal immigrants were limited to those without criminal histories who had not followed judicial deportation orders.
The government spent $41,000 in advertising the program, and claimed the costs of detaining the six participants during the first week of the trial alone would have been $37,000. The director of ICE’s detention and removal operations, Jim Hayes, claimed that failure of the program emphasizes the need for enforcement. Critics of the program blame its failure on its lack of incentives for immigrants and the fact that many of the immigrants have family ties in the U.S. Under the program, immigrants were given up to 90 days to plan their deportation, but many would have been prohibited from reentering the country for up to ten years.
Of the eight participants, three persons applied at an office in Chicago, two in Santa Ana and one each in Phoenix, Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Diego.
Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/a/w/1152/08-22-2008/20080822035007_14.html
Tags: Immigration
