Trump offers free flights and potential stipends for self-deportation
Mass deportations will continue to target violent criminals, while those willing to comply and seek legal entry could see benefits, according to the president.
The president said stipends, including plane tickets and money, could help incentivize illegal immigrants to leave and pursue legal status.
“We’re going to make it comfortable for people, and we’re going to work with those people to come back into our country legally,” President Trump said during the interview. “And then we’re going to work with them if they’re good, if we want them back in, we’re going to work with them to get them back in as quickly as we can.”
No further details about how much money illegal immigrants could receive or how to apply for such benefits were provided.
The president also announced a plan to work with some industries, including hospitality and agriculture, to help business owners mitigate the impact of mass deportations.
“We’re making it so that if a farmer can give recommendations to people, we’re going to be very soothing in terms of perhaps letting that farmer have, you know, they’re sort of responsible, and we’re going to have the farmer take responsibility,” he said. “But you know, ultimately, at some point, we want the people to go out, come back as legal.”
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While offering paths to citizenship for many in the workforce, the president said aggressive deportation operations are continuing for violent criminals.
“Right now, we’re getting the murderers out,” Trump said. “We have our total aim on the very bad ones, as you can imagine. These are rough, bad people. We want them out, and that’s mostly our focus.”
He thanked Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele—who visited the White House April 14 to discuss migration and national security policies—for housing violent deportees in his country’s Terrorist Confinement Center.
Trump said White House officials are looking into the legality of potentially housing dangerous U.S. citizens in the supermax prison.
“I call them homegrown criminals,” the president said. “We are looking into it, and we want to do it. I would love to do that.”
Regarding tariffs imposed on nations around the world, the president suggested that revenues could grow large enough to replace income taxes.
“We’re making tremendous amounts of money, taking in billions and billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs from other countries that, for many, many decades, just ripped off the United States,” he said.
He also repeated oft-cited goals of introducing more lenient mortgage deductions, allowing interest deductions for American made vehicles, and eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security but cautioned that political winds on Capitol Hill are challenging to overcome.
“I have some strange people I deal with, and we have to get it approved,” Trump said.
