US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has provided additional information regarding “Scheduled Departure” on its website. This is the program that invites non-criminal undocumented aliens to self-deport by turning themselves over to US ICE for processing. The pilot program will run through this Friday, August 22, 2008 and so far has not had many takers, I have read accounts ranging from six to a handful of participants nationwide.
Other than the possibility of a free return ticket to their home country, no tangible incentives are being offered for participation in the program. It would be just as easy for undocumented aliens to leave the US without “being processed” by ICE.
