The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reportedly offering unaccompanied minors $2,500 if they voluntarily leave the U.S. and return to their home countries, according to multiple reports.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) informed migrant shelters that teenagers 14 years or older could self-deport and claim the financial incentive if they respond to the offer within 24 hours, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press (AP). The Trump administration had already planned to offer incentives for illegal migrants to self-deport, including a $1,000 stipend and flight assistance.

“ICE and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement at HHS are offering a strictly voluntary option to return home to their families. This voluntary option gives UACs [unaccompanied alien children] a choice and allows them to make an informed decision about their future,” an ICE spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

ICE told the DCNF that the offer would initially be for 17-year-olds, though it did not confirm the details of the incentives. The email to shelters did not indicate there would be consequences for minors who didn’t accept the offer, according to the AP. There were over 2,000 migrant children in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services as of Oct. 2, according to agency data.

“Any payment to support a return home would be provided after an immigration judge grants the request and the individual arrives in their country of origin. Access to financial support when returning home would assist should they choose that option,” ICE told the DCNF in a statement. “Cartels trafficked countless unaccompanied children into the United States during the Biden Administration, and DHS and HHS have been working diligently to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those children. … Many of these UACs had no choice when they were dangerously smuggled into this country.” (Read more from “Trump Administration Reportedly Ramping Up Deportations With New Incentive Targeting Key Demographic” HERE)

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