The Trump administration has launched a new initiative offering $2,500 to unaccompanied migrant children aged 14 and older who voluntarily agree to return to their countries of origin, The Washington Post reported, citing government officials and internal documents.

The plan, formally known as the Family Assistance Reintegration Program, applies to minors housed in US Health and Human Services (HHS) shelters. Agency data shows that, as of August, roughly 2,000 children were residing in such facilities.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials said the program would initially target 17-year-olds and would be “strictly voluntary,” describing it as a humanitarian effort to reunite children with their families. Officials added that minors would receive the financial assistance only after an immigration judge approved their departure and they had returned home.

“Cartels trafficked countless unaccompanied children into the United States during the Biden Administration,” federal immigration authorities said in a statement. “DHS and HHS have been working diligently to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those children.”

Immigrant and child advocacy groups swiftly condemned the initiative, warning that it could pressure vulnerable minors into abandoning their legal rights.

“Safe voluntary departure requires legal counsel, not government marketing or what amounts to cash bribes for kids,” said Melissa Adamson, senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law. “This administration’s actions again prove it cannot be trusted to protect children.”

Legal and ethical challenges ahead

DHS officials defended the policy as an opportunity for the record numbers of unaccompanied minors who arrived under the Biden administration to “start fresh” in their home countries. US Border Patrol records show that over 525,000 unaccompanied minors entered the country under the previous administration, compared with nearly 200,000 during President Trump’s first term.

On Friday, HHS officials instructed shelter staff to report within 24 hours if any children expressed willingness to accept the offer. However, legal experts warned that the plan could face immediate court challenges.

Under US law, children from neighboring nations such as Mexico and Canada can be repatriated swiftly, but minors from other countries must be transferred to HHS custody and placed with vetted sponsors. They are also entitled to seek protections such as asylum or special immigrant visas,  proceedings that often take years.

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Advocates warn of unlawful detention

Immigration lawyers said many minors remain detained in HHS facilities even when qualified sponsors in the United States are ready to take them in.

“If they’re not doing that and holding them for the pendency of the removal proceedings, they’re violating the law,” said Sophia Leticia Gregg, senior immigrants’ rights attorney with the ACLU of Virginia. “They need to be processed for release as quickly as possible.”

Homeland Security officials maintained that the financial aid would allow children to make an “informed decision” about returning home.

It is worth noting that unaccompanied children have crossed the US border in increasing numbers over the past decade, reaching record highs under the Biden administration. The Trump administration has argued that many of these minors were sent north to work and have since fallen prey to abuse or labor exploitation.

“Many of these [unaccompanied minors] had no choice when they were dangerously smuggled into this country,” DHS said in its statement. “ICE and the Office of Refugee and Resettlement at HHS are offering a strictly voluntary option to return home to their families.”

Critics cite past child welfare violations

Advocacy organizations countered that many of the children were escaping gang violence, political repression, or hunger, and should be given a fair chance to apply for asylum.

Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, called the plan “an egregious abuse of power,” urging its immediate cancellation. “Unaccompanied children seeking safety in the United States deserve our protection rather than being coerced into agreeing to return back to the very conditions that placed their lives and safety at risk,” she said.

Critics also pointed to Trump’s record on child migration policies. During his first term, the administration separated more than 4,000 children from their parents without a system to reunite them,  a move widely condemned both domestically and internationally.

This year, hundreds more have reportedly been separated from family members or guardians within the United States. In one recent case, a Trump-appointed judge blocked the deportation of dozens of Guatemalan children over Labor Day weekend, accusing the government of falsely claiming that their parents wanted them repatriated.

The judge noted that many of the children were traumatized, with one girl vomiting in fear during the attempted removal.

Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defense, denounced the initiative as “an egregious abuse of power” and called on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately withdraw it.

“Unaccompanied children seeking safety in the United States deserve our protection rather than being coerced into agreeing to return back to the very conditions that placed their lives and safety at risk,” she said, emphasizing that “unaccompanied children should never be removed from the United States without a full and fair process to determine if they are eligible for US protection.”