César Ríos discusses the U.S. Administration’s recent proposal to offer $1,000 and a plane ticket to undocumented migrants who voluntarily return to their home countries via an online application. This initiative has reignited debates on contemporary migration policies, balancing legality with humanity, and the operational limits of the current migration system. Official estimates suggest deporting one person costs the U.S. government approximately $17,000, involving detentions, legal processes, and transportation. Achieving the goal of one million deportations in a year would require infrastructure that doesn’t currently exist. While the financial incentive addresses budgetary and logistical constraints, it highlights deeper issues within the migration control model that prioritizes removal over integration. Although presented as voluntary, decisions may be influenced by fears of raids, legal insecurity, and lack of accessible regularization pathways. For many migrants with established family and work ties in the U.S., accepting this return may be a protective strategy rather than a fully autonomous choice. Internationally, this policy raises questions for receiving countries like Mexico and Northern Central American nations, which could face significant return flows, posing challenges for economic, social, and psychological reintegration. This measure might set a precedent for other countries to delegate migration management to individual decisions conditioned by incentives, weakening international migrant and refugee protection systems. Addressing migration requires coherent regional and international policies, including safe labor mobility, regularization opportunities, protection for vulnerable individuals, and investment in structural causes like poverty, inequality, insecurity, and climate change. While proposals like voluntary deportation may temporarily relieve system pressure, they don’t transform the underlying scenario. A comprehensive vision combining legality, humanity, and international cooperation is essential for lasting and fair solutions.
— new from 新华网