The Department of Homeland Security has launched a new app where migrants can declare they have deported themselves so that one day they can return.
Under the Biden administration migrants could make appointments on the CBP One app at a port of entry to seek asylum. DHS revoked that scheduler after President Donald Trump took office and the administration began its sweeping immigration crackdown, intending to remove anyone living in the U.S. without legal permission.
The department had previously announced its plan to roll out the app that has a “submit intent to depart” feature for migrants.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the Biden administration had long “exploited” the app because it allowed migrants to legally enter the country by booking an appointment.
“With the launching of the CBP Home app, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system,” Noem said in a statement.
“The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream. If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return.”
The Independent has contacted DHS and asked whether the department believes migrants in the country illegally will actually use the function or the cost for the new feature.
DHS is also trying to enforce a registry so it can locate the approximately 11 million migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission.
Some migrants reported waiting over a year for their appointments on the app, which were swiftly canceled the day Trump was sworn in.
It follows news that DHS is reportedly performing polygraph tests on agency employees to determine whether staff is leaking information to the media about immigration enforcement operations.
In a memo to DHS employees last week and reported by Bloomberg Government, Noem allegedly instructed all polygraph tests to include questions about “unauthorized communications with media and nonprofit organizations,” the outlet said.
Noem cited the “deleterious effects” of leaks on immigration enforcement, according to the memo, which said responses could be used to determine whether agency personnel can continue to have access to classified information or hold a sensitive position.
“Yes have been saying this for weeks,” assistant DHS secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote Saturday in response to reporting.
“The Department of Homeland Security is a national security agency. We can, should, and will polygraph personnel,” McLaughlin said in a statement shared with The Independent.
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