Trump's New Push: Migrants Must Self-Deport

The Trump administration is getting increasingly aggressive with deportations, and now President Trump himself is encouraging migrants to do the job themselves. In a new video, the president tells migrants to use a newly launched federal app to guide them through the self-deportation process, reports the Hill. It's in their own best interests, he warned:

• "People in our country illegally can self-deport the easy way, or they can get deported the hard way and that's not pleasant," Trump said.

• Those who self-deport via the app "could potentially have the opportunity to return legally at some point in the future," said the president, per Axios. But "if they do not avail themselves of this opportunity, then they will be found, they will be deported and they will never be admitted again to the United States—ever, ever again, you're never coming in."
• The Customs and Border Patrol app, called CBP Home, is a retooled version of one used under the Biden administration to help migrants enter the country. The previous app, called CBP One, is now defunct.
• One figure picking up on the self-deportation theme is none other than Tiger King star Joe Maldonado-Passage, aka Joe Exotic. The imprisoned former reality TV star tweeted a request for a pardon from Trump, on the condition that his partner Jorge Marquez be pardoned as well, per the Daily Beast. "You could deport him at some point, but if you let me go, we'll both go to Mexico, which will save you the cost of deporting him and allow you to take care of me," he wrote.

(More Customs and Border Protection stories.)