American conservative influencer Nick Sortor, who has slammed illegal immigration in the United States, shared an AI-generated video on X on Saturday urging illegal immigrants to “self-deport” on Valentine’s Day.
“LMAO! DHS just sent out a Happy Valentine’s Day message for illegals.” We’ll even give you $2,600 to take them out.'” Nick Sortor said in a post on X.
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“Don’t wait, deport yourself today and spend this Valentine’s Day with the one you love. We’ll even give you $2,600 to marry them,” CBP said in a post on X.
At the time of reporting, the post had 86 comments, 320 reposts, 1,900 likes and 23 bookmarks.
Netizens react
One user commented: “Governments try to charm deportees with small paychecks and dodgy charms – because nothing says romance like forced self-exile. It had to happen.”
Another wrote: “If this is real, politics has officially become a travesty. Valentine’s Day messages shouldn’t read like political ads.”
A third user suggested: “Their country of origin should be charged.”
Netizens react to Nick Sortor’s post on X.
In early January, anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters surrounded conservative content creator Nick Sortor’s vehicle in Minneapolis, shouting and using profanity. Sortor later posted a video on X saying that protesters smashed his car windows and he had to drive away as the crowd closed in on him.
It comes as funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security expired Saturday after Democrats refused to approve more money unless new limits were placed on federal immigration operations in response to the recent fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good in Minneapolis, the AP reported.
Negotiations between the White House and Democratic leaders continued throughout the week, but they failed to reach an agreement in time, causing the department’s funding to expire.
Read also | The US Congressional gridlock over immigration risks a partial shutdown
Unlike last fall’s record 43-day shutdown, this shutdown will be more limited.
Only agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Transportation Security Administration are affected. If the shutdown continues, some federal employees may begin to experience pay delays, the AP reported.
The US has spent $40 million on roughly 300 deportations to third countries
The Trump administration has spent at least $40 million over the past year to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own, according to a report compiled by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as immigration officials stepped up efforts to quickly remove immigrants from the US in line with Trump’s goals, the AP reported.
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Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, condemned the practice of deporting migrants to third countries, describing it in a report as “costly, wasteful and poorly monitored”. They urged “serious scrutiny of a policy that now operates largely in the dark”.
The report, the first congressional review of the agreements, found one-time payments ranging from $4.7 million to $7.5 million to five countries — Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, El Salvador, Eswatini and Palau — to deport migrants to those countries, the report said.
Read also | Trump ends Minnesota immigration crackdown, ‘but we’re not leaving’
Don’t wait, deport yourself today and spend this Valentine’s Day with the one you love. We’ll even give you $2,600 to take them.
Governments trying to charm deportees with small paychecks and cheesy lines – because nothing says romance like forced self-exile.
El Salvador accepted about 250 Venezuelan nationals in March of last year, while other countries have accepted far fewer deportees, according to the report, ranging from 29 sent to Equatorial Guinea to none sent to Palau so far.
(With input from agencies)