Migrants attending immigration court hearings in Phoenix, Arizona, are receiving flyers urging them to leave the country. The U.S. Department of Justice is distributing the notices, which warn individuals without legal status to self-deport.
Flyers distributed during immigration court hearings
The flyers, printed in both English and Spanish, carry the words, “Message to Illegal Aliens: A Warning to Self Deport.” Advocates said the notices are appearing in multiple parts of the country and reaching migrants through court proceedings.
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The flyer outlines what it calls the benefits of self-deportation, such as leaving “on your own terms,” keeping earned income and receiving subsidized travel.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association called the flyers a deceptive tactic that misleads individuals into thinking there are no consequences of self-deportation. Immigration attorneys say the flyers are often handed out to people who don’t have a lawyer present.
The flyers also warn of consequences, including daily fines up to $1,000, jail time and “immediate deportation” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It promotes the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home mobile app as a “safe” way to self-deport and offers a $1,000 incentive.
Immigration attorneys, advocates say flyers mislead migrants
The Immigration Policy Tracking Project points out, “The flyer makes no distinction between immigrants with final removal orders and those potentially eligible for relief such as asylum or cancellation of removal and omits any mention of the right to appeal a removal order.”
Immigration attorneys also accused the justice system of bias for allowing people to distribute the flyers to migrants in asylum proceedings or others who haven’t yet had a chance to appear before a judge.
According to AILA attorney Vanessa Dojaquez-Torres, the DOJ sometimes includes the flyers alongside official immigration documents and even files them through the court’s electronic system. She told the Arizona Republic that while the public expects courts to be neutral and impartial, allowing this material inside raises ethical concerns.
The flyers are part of a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) campaign that aims to pressure immigrants living in the U.S. without legal status to leave voluntarily, while also discouraging others from migrating illegally. Since President Donald Trump took office and moved forward with a mass deportation effort, DHS has spent millions of dollars to get the message out.
A part of broader DHS campaign on voluntary departure
During a July 1 tour of a new migrant detention center nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said authorities won’t send people to the facility if they choose to leave the country on their own.
“If they self-deport and go home, they can come back legally. We will let them come back,” she said. “But if you wait and we bring you to this facility, you don’t ever get to come back to America.”
Officials intend for the newly opened Florida Everglades facility to house what they describe as the “worst of the worst.” According to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, authorities give those entering the facility information about voluntary departure.
CBP Home App is another tool DHS has introduced as a way to help coordinate self-deportation from an individual’s mobile device. The agency said in March that using the app is the safest way for immigrants to leave the country while saving taxpayer dollars.
“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,” Noem said in a statement.
