Some immigrants are already leaving the US in 'self-deportations' as Trump's threats loom [View all]

Source: Associated Press

TRACY, Calif. (AP) — Michel Bérrios left the United States a few days before the new year, giving President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign for mass deportations a small victory before they even started.

A former leader of a Nicaraguan student uprising, Bérrios had been in the U.S. legally, with nearly a year remaining under President Joe Biden’s unprecedented use of humanitarian parole authority for citizens of certain vulnerable countries. But harsh talk during the U.S. election campaign filled her with anxious memories of hiding from authorities back home.

Advocates and immigration experts who have noticed such departures say Bérrios’ decision to leave the U.S., despite her legal status, shows how uncertainty and threats have led a growing number of people to leave the U.S. before Trump takes office on Monday.

There isn’t data on these departures, but history has seen other eras of public backlash that drove migrants — with or without legal status — out.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/immigration-self-deportation-trump-0a8d8371cf7e22a5809db40ebbecf42d