White House launches controversial app where people can choose to ‘self deport’
The White House has launched a controversial new app where people can choose to 'self deport'.
Earlier this week on Tuesday (18 March), United States president Donald Trump announced the news that his administration has now repurposed the app - which was originally created to facilitate asylum appointments - into a way for undocumented migrants who are already in the US to deport themselves out of the country.
In the video, which was posted by the official White House Instagram account as well as the US Border Patrol Instagram, the 78-year-old Republican began: "People in our country illegally can self deport the easy way, or they can get deported the hard way, and that's not pleasant."
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He continued: "The Biden administration exploited the CBP [Customs and Border Protection] One app to allow more than one million aliens to illegally enter the United States. Now my administration is launching the CBP Home app to give people in our country illegally an easy way to leave now and self deport voluntarily.
"If they do, they could potentially have the opportunity to return legally at some point in the future. But if they do not avail themselves of this opportunity, then they will be found, they will be deported and they will never be admitted again to the United States ever, ever again. You're never coming in."
Trump, the first convicted felon to assume the presidency, went on to claim: "Using the CBP Home app to leave the United States voluntarily is the safest option for illegal aliens or law enforcement.
"This also saves the US taxpayer dollars and valuable CBP and ICE resources, and all of those resources are necessary to focus on dangerous criminal aliens, and that's what we're focused on."
He finished up the announcement concluding: "The CBP Home app is now available free across all mobile app stores, and I encourage those who have violated our laws to use this option today.
"Do it right and come back into our country. Do it wrong, and you'll never be back again."
The post was captioned: "ILLEGAL ALIENS: Download the CBP Home App - Now Available on All App Stores.
"Do it the easy way, or get deported the hard way."
This is by no means the first time the White House posted something controversial on its official social media accounts as, just this week on Monday (17 March), it was accused of being a 'meme page' after sharing a video of Conor McGregor for St. Patrick's Day.
In a recent civil case last year in November, a Dublin jury found McGregor liable for sexually assaulting Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018 and ordered him to pay her over €248,000 in damages.
Additionally, last month (19 February), the White House sparked outrage after sharing a 'sickening' 'ASMR' video, which showed immigrants in shackles as they prepared to board a deportation flight from Seattle.
At one point in the video, which is 41 seconds long, a set of handcuffs and chains can be seen jingling as they are pulled from a basket, before being laid out on the airport tarmac next to four other sets of restraints.
Another shot shows a man with his hands cuffed in front of him and his ankles bound by a chain as he walks past an officer.
And a third shot sees a man having his handcuffs linked together before the camera pans to a man’s feet in chains as he walks up a stairway to a plane.
Topics: Donald Trump, News, Politics, Social Media, Technology, US News
Rhiannon Ingle