alt Hacker NewsObjectively, which is hard to say because I’m just obviously not in this position, but if I were in the United States legally and I’m looking at three options…
1. I take self-deportation offer. At Christmas it was $3000 a person, but usually $1000, a commercial plane ticket anywhere, and I can come back to the US upon following the legal method. I can say goodbye to people I can sell my things. I can do this on my own timeline within reason.
2. I’ve risk it and trying to invade ice for the next three years minimum. If Vance wins, I need to make it to at least 2032 without showing up on any radar. I’m careful and looking over my shoulder constantly and work is a never ending dread.
3. I am caught by ICE. I have absolutely no claim to stay in the US. I can sit in a detention center while an NGO funded lawyer tells me that I do. And in high likelihood, I am sent back with no money on a cargo jet and I’m banned from the United States forever. This happens at any moment.
Practically speaking, I just cannot picture taking option two which could be three at any time. The fact is, I would know without a doubt, unfair or not that I am here legally, that my state would apply in any European country as well. I cannot fathom how option one is not the best option. Perhaps I’m too risk adverse.
Replies
1. You will be deported to your country of origin one way ticket; there is no picking and choosing here 3. If you are detained by ICE even if you do have legal status they will endlessly pressure you into singing away your rights, you will be lucky to even speak to you NGO lawyer because every few days you are shipped between detention locations. Even if you choose to self-deport you have to be detained by ICE and could be in custody for a number of days before you are shipped out of the country. The lawyer is not going to sugar coat your situation but if you want to fight there are legal avenues to do so. Also you cannot be banned from the USA forever the max the DHS can issue is a 10-year ban
This administration changes its tune based on what business/tech leaders are telling them[0][1]. There's no doubt that ICE will be used for selective enforcement (as we've seen them used at American protests) but some immigrants are probably staying based on the reality that business interests are more important.
Also, I would be hesitant to say that immigrants being targeted by ICE are "illegal" as we saw some be detained/deported after speaking out against the war in Gaza[2]. Also, a lot claim asylum at the border which is a legal process.
> and I can come back to the US upon following the legal method
That process in reality takes a really long time due to the federal immigration system being strained. The 2024 border bill tried to address this by adding more immigration judges and asylum officers but Trump told Republicans to kill it because it'd make Biden look good. So far all we got was a massive DHS funding increase that allowed Kristi Noem to funnel $100M+ to herself and her friends and kill two American citizens with ICE.
0: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/us/politics/farm-labor-tr...
1: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5601588-trump-h1...
2: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2026/03/17/immigrati...
"A commercial plane ticket anywhere" != the legal right to go anywhere
Pretty much you go back to your country of origin
Typically people take on the immense risk and challenge of leaving their country of origin to come here because their country of origin has really bad problems
Those problems likely still exist or have gotten worse over the last several years due to (if nothing else) COVID further separating the US economy from the rest of the world's