Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis explained on Tuesday that illegal aliens who are going through intake at “Alligator Alcatraz” — a detention facility to house, process, and deport illegal aliens — have the option to voluntarily self-deport before entering the front door.
DeSantis said on Tuesday that when they do they intake of illegal immigrants, they explain the option of voluntarily departing.
“So right when you do the intake, they have the information about voluntary departure. They have the ability, obviously, you guys are funding that, because it’s a lot cheaper to do it that way,” DeSantis said.
“So, even if they get brought to the front doorstep here, they still have an opportunity to just go back voluntarily,” he explained.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also drove this point home while touring the facility on Tuesday.
“If they self-deport and go home, they can come back legally. We will let them come back,” she told reporters as President Donald Trump added, “And there is a lot of self-deportation.”
“If you wait and we bring you to this facility, you don’t ever get to come back to America. You don’t get the chance to come back and be an American again,” she warned, reiterating that point later on as well during the roundtable discussion.
“Everybody who sees these flyers, or anybody who sees these news clips should know you can still go home on your own. You can self-deport. If you go on the CBP home app and go home now, you will get the chance to come back to the United States legally. You will get the chance to come back and do it the right way. If you don’t, you may end up here, ” Noem said, referencing Alligator Alcatraz, “and you may end up here and being processed — deported out of this country and never get the chance to come back.”
“That is the consequences of breaking the law in the United States of America,” she stressed.
WATCH — Self-Deport, or Go to Alligator Alcatraz!
In May, DHS announced the option for illegal aliens to self-deport with flight assistance and a stipend of $1,000 — which they would receive once they are confirmed to have left the country — noting that this is far more cost-efficient for the American taxpayer.
“Even with the cost of the stipend, it is projected that the use of CBP Home will decrease the costs of a deportation by around 70 percent,” DHS noted in the press release. “Currently the average cost to arrest, detain, and remove an illegal alien is $17,121.”
RELATED — LIVE: President Trump Visits “Alligator Alcatraz”…
