U.S. drops self-deportation program

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. officials say they have shut down Operation Scheduled Departure, a test effort meant to encourage self-deportation among illegal immigrants.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, said Friday that only eight people out of an eligible pool of 30,000 illegal migrants in five test cities had signed up since the program was launched Aug. 5, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

Even though few took advantage of Operation Scheduled Departure's offer of arrest-free deportations for non-criminal immigrants, ICE officials said they weren't disappointed because they didn't have very high expectations to begin with, the newspaper said.

The program was criticized by immigrant advocates' groups, which said ICE may have wanted the program to fail and had been using it only as a facade to demonstrate the futility of trying to entice illegal immigrants to leave, reinforcing existing policies that rely on raids and arrests. One ICE official, however, told the Express-News that wasn't the case.

"We're going to enforce immigration law whether it's convenient for people or not," said Jim Hayes, in charge of detention and deportation for ICE. "Obviously, certain groups have shown they don't want our laws enforced, as mandated by Congress."