US President Donald Trump said he wants to give money and an plane ticket to any immigrant who is in the country illegally who chooses to “self-deport” and work to get those who are “good” back in the US, a break from his usual hardline immigration rhetoric.
Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to carry out mass deportations, said in a taped interview with Fox Noticias that aired on Tuesday that his administration is focused right now on getting “murderers” out of the country.
But for others in the US illegally, he said, he is going to implement “a self-deportation programme”.
Trump offered few details about the plan, including timing, but said the US would provide immigrants airfare and a stipend.
“We’re going to give them a stipend. We’re going to give them some money and a plane ticket, and then we’re going to work with them – if they’re good – if we want them back in, we’re going to work with them to get them back in as quickly as we can,” Trump said.
Fox Noticias interviewer Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is married to Transport Secretary Sean Duffy, played Trump a clip of a Mexican man who she said arrived in the US illegally more than 20 years ago and has children who are American citizens.