The Trump administration is considering using up to $250 million in foreign aid funds to deport migrants from active conflict areas, it was reported.
Roughly 700,000 migrants from Ukraine and Haiti would be returned to their homelands under the plan, The Washington Post reported.
The Biden administration granted Ukrainians and Haitians temporary protected status, which allows migrants to remain in the U.S. if they are unable to return to their home nation safely.
The Post, which based its report on draft internal documents reviewed by the newspaper, said the administration's plan would bypass the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a U.N.-affiliated body that typically aids in returning migrants to their homes.
Migrants from Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen also were mentioned in the draft documents, which said more than 200,000 Ukrainians and 500,000 Haitians could be part of the voluntary removal process.
The IOM does not support the return of people to any of those places, the draft documents said, according to the Post.
Although a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson called the predecisional documents "outdated," DHS and the State Department signed an agreement last week that details the same process, with $250 million in foreign assistance funding supporting it, the Post reported.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told the newspaper that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has not made a "final" decision on temporary protected status for Haiti or Ukraine.
"DHS and the State Department are working together to further implement the President's agenda by using foreign aid money to assist those illegally in our country to voluntarily self-deport," McLaughlin said in a statement.
The newspaper said the proposal was in development before DHS announced May 5 that it would pay $1,000 to illegal migrants who return to their home country voluntarily.
Earlier this month, the administration asked the Supreme Court to allow it to end humanitarian parole for more than 500,000 migrants from four countries: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
A U.S. District Court judge blocked the administration from putting an early end to the immigrants' temporary legal status.
The case comes as the Trump administration seeks to crack down on immigration and dismantle Biden-era policies that created new and expanded pathways for people to live in the United States, generally for two years with work authorization.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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