The Trump administration on Monday announced that it will pay for the travel and provide $1,000 to undocumented migrants who voluntarily return to their home countries.

US President Donald Trump stated that some undocumented migrants who take advantage of the self-deportation scheme may be given a pathway to legally re-enter the United States.

“We’re going to pay each one a certain amount of money, and we’re going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House.

“We’re going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in—if they’re good people, if they’re the kind of people that we want in our country,” he said. “It will give them a path to coming back into the country.”

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Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, while announcing the travel assistance and $1,000 stipend programme, said, “Self-deportation is the best, safest, and most cost-effective way to leave the United States and avoid arrest.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it is “offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home app.”

CBP Home refers to an app developed by the DHS through which people can arrange their own deportation.

DHS stated that the $1,000 stipend will be paid after the person’s return to their home country has been verified via the app.

“Self-deportation is a dignified way to leave the US and will allow illegal aliens to avoid being encountered by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” the department said in a statement.

DHS noted that even with the stipend and travel assistance, the CBP Home programme is expected to reduce deportation costs by approximately 70 per cent.

Currently, the average cost of arresting, detaining, and removing an undocumented migrant is estimated at $17,121.

The DHS said that one undocumented migrant from Honduras has already used the programme to return home.

Trump, who pledged during his presidential campaign to carry out mass deportations, claimed during the White House event that there are as many as 21 million undocumented migrants in the United States.

However, the number stood at 11 million in 2022, according to Pew Research Center estimates based on data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Punch

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has ordered a surprise 72-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to mark the 80th anniversary of the Second World War ending and has urged Kyiv to follow suit.

‘Based on humanitarian considerations, the Russian side is declaring a truce during the 80th anniversary of Victory Day,’ the Kremlin announced on Monday, claiming from May 8 through May 10 ‘all hostilities’ would be stopped.

‘Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example. In the event of violations of the truce by the Ukrainian side, the Russian armed forces will give an adequate and effective response,’ it added.

The Kremlin announced a similar, 30-hour truce during Easter but while both sides reported a dip in fighting, they accused each other of hundreds of violations.

Putin’s announcement came after US President Donald Trump urged him to ‘stop shooting’ and ‘sign a deal’ to conclude the three-year conflict, which the White House is seeking to end through diplomatic means.

The US has been trying to broker a lasting ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite repeated negotiations between his administration and Russian officials.

Mr Trump is seeking a permanent ceasefire in Ukraine, his spokeswoman said on Monday, indicating the President did not see Putin’s three-day pause as satisfactory.

Ukraine and Russia targeted each other with long-range strikes overnight. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces downed 119 Ukrainian drones, most of them over Russia’s Bryansk border region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky abruptly shortened his official visit to South Africa on Thursday following a deadly Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv that killed at least eight people and left dozens injured.

The attack, one of the deadliest on the Ukrainian capital in recent months, saw Russia launch more than 200 missiles and drones overnight, with over 100 intercepted by Ukrainian air defences, according to military officials.

Despite Kyiv’s relatively robust air defense systems, 13 locations across the city suffered significant damage, including residential areas.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko reported that more than 70 people were injured in the strike, and rescue efforts were ongoing as emergency services combed through the debris. Punch