First ‘self-deportation’ flight from US lands in Honduras – with US citizen children aboard

The first flight carrying migrants who chose to self-deport from the United States as part of a new Department of Homeland Security initiative offering free flights and $1,000 stipends has arrived in Honduras.

The first flight carrying migrants who chose to self-deport from the United States as part of a new Department of Homeland Security initiative offering free flights and $1,000 stipends has landed in Honduras. A group of 38 Hondurans arrived at Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport on Monday afternoon after applying through a mobile app provided by US Customs and Border Protection, Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio García said. “There was a bit of everything. There were mothers with children. Each one was given $1,000, including the children,” García told reporters at the airport, saying that up to 19 children had arrived. At least four of the children were born in the US and one was born in Mexico. They left the US with their Honduran relatives to avoid family separation, according to Honduran Migration Director Wilson Paz Reyes. “In this case, the US makes the decision, along with their families, that they return to the country so that family disintegration does not occur,” he said. One of those deported, Wilson Sáenz, said that after he requested to be removed, authorities flew him to a hotel in Houston, Texas, and from there, he was dropped off at an airport and provided food before his flight home.