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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (404610)	8/5/2008 10:44:05 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574854

Feds Hope Illegal Immigrants Will See Themselves Out Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Federal authorities have launched a pilot program aimed at encouraging illegal immigrants to leave the country voluntarily by allowing them to remain free of government custody while they coordinate their own departure. The program, dubbed "Scheduled Departure," gives immigrants who have no criminal history and pose no threat to the community up to 90 days to make travel arrangements, and in some cases say goodbye to their families, without being placed in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention center. The three-week program began Tuesday in Phoenix, Chicago, San Diego, Charlotte, N.C., and Santa Ana, Calif. It is aimed at clearing up a backlog of deportation cases and is a response to complaints that ICE disrupts families when removing immigrants from the country. "By participating in the Scheduled Departure Program, those who have had their day in court and have been ordered to leave the country have an opportunity to comply with the law and gain control of how their families are affected by their removal," ICE's Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Julie Myers said in a news release. Officials say no immigrants in Arizona had yet signed up for the program. The number of eligible people in Arizona was unavailable, but MyFOXPhoenix.com estimated that about 6,000 immigrants in its area could participate. One illegal alien waiting outside the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix told MyFOXPhoenix.com that she has no plans to participate in the new program. "I don't think so, because after I turn myself in I will never be able to come back," the unidentified woman said, adding that her husband and daughter are both U.S. citizens. She said she worries sometimes about deportation but would fight to stay in this country. Click here to read more on this story from MyFOXPhoenix.com. FOX News' Joshua Rhett Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.