US sends migrants back to Honduras and Colombia in first voluntary deportation

A Honduran migrant who returned voluntarily from the United States walks after arriving at Ramon Villeda Morales Airport. Picture: AP/Delmer Martinez

The United States on Monday sent 68 immigrants from Honduras and Colombia back to their countries, the first government-funded flight of what the Trump administration is calling voluntary deportations.

In the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, 38 Hondurans, including 19 children, disembarked from the charter flight carrying $1,000 debit cards from the US government and the offer to one day be allowed to apply for legal entry into the US.

US President Donald Trump has promised to increase deportations substantially.

Experts believe the self-deportation offer will only appeal to a small portion of migrants already considering return, but is unlikely to spur high demand.

A Honduran migrant who returned voluntarily from the United States walks after arriving at Ramon Villeda Morales Airport in San Pedro Sula (AP/Delmer Martinez)

The offer has been paired with highly publicised migrant detentions in the US and flying a couple of hundred Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.

In a statement about the flight on Monday, US Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem said people could register through the Customs and Border Protection Home (CBP) app.

“If you are here illegally, use the CBP Home App to take control of your departure and receive financial support to return home,” she said.

“If you don’t, you will be subjected to fines, arrest, deportation and will never be allowed to return.”

Kevin Antonio Posadas, from Tegucigalpa, had lived in Houston for three years, but had already been considering a return to Honduras when the Trump administration announced its offer.

“I wanted to see my family and my mom,” said Mr Posadas, who added that the process was easy.

“You just apply (through the CPB Home app) and in three days you’ve got it,” he said.

The flight left Houston early Monday.

“It’s good because you save the cost of the flight if you have the intention of leaving.”

Mr Posadas said he hadn’t feared deportation and liked living in the US, but had been thinking for some time about going home.

He said eventually he would consider taking up the US government’s offer of allowing those who self-deport to apply to enter the United States legally.

Twenty-six more migrants aboard the flight were headed home to Colombia, according to a US Department of Homeland Security statement.

Honduras Deputy foreign minister Antonio Garcia said the Honduran government would also support the returning migrants with 100 dollars (£74) cash and another 200 dollars (£149) credit at a government-run store that sells basic necessities.

Among the migrants arriving voluntarily on Monday were four children who were born in the United States, Mr Garcia said.

Mr Garcia, who met the arriving migrants at the airport, said they told him that being in the US without documents required for legal immigration or residence had been increasingly difficult, that things were growing more hostile, and they feared going to work.

I don't think it will be thousands of people who apply for the programme. Our responsibility is that they come in an orderly fashion and we support them.

Still, the number of Hondurans deported from the US so far this year is below last year’s pace, said Honduras immigration director Wilson Paz.

While about 13,500 Hondurans have been deported from the U.S. this year, the figure stood at more than 15,000 by this time in 2024, Mr Paz said.

He did not expect the number to accelerate much, despite the Trump administration’s intentions.

Some would continue applying to self-deport, because they feel like their time in the US is up or because it’s getting harder to work, he said.

“I don’t think it will be thousands of people who apply for the programme,” Mr Paz said.

“Our responsibility is that they come in an orderly fashion and we support them.”