According to Secretary of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in the first 200 days of the Trump administration approximately 1.6 million illegal aliens have left the United States. The DHS speculates that many individuals have left the country voluntarily because of incentives like free travel and a $1,000 stipend. Returning home has also been facilitated by a new mobile app called CBP home.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that an unprecedented 2.2 million foreign-born, legal and illegal, population decline between January and July.
Ira Mehlman, media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, says these illegal aliens are rational people.
"The administration that let them all in, they were the people who were irrational. They opened the borders; people responded and came to the United States because they believed that they would be allowed to remain here,” says Mehlman.
Mehlman says now the signal has been sent that the U.S. is intent on enforcing our laws.
“We're not going to allow people to come here on us, settle here en masse, take jobs, access benefits and services, and expect that there will be no consequences to violating our laws. We're seeing that when you send that signal, people decide, ‘you know what, this is not conducive to me remaining here’," Mehlman states.
Mehlman says the policy shall remain a deterrence.
"Absolutely, there's no question that people will make the decision that it's not in their interest to remain here," concludes Mehlman.
