The Trump administration announced a pilot program this month offering $2,500 to unaccompanied migrant minors in Texas age 14 and older, in exchange for voluntarily returning to their countries of origin. The initiative, framed as an emergency measure to "stabilize the border," begins in McAllen, Texas, a key processing hub for unaccompanied minors. It is promoted as a "humane alternative to long-term detention.

The program targets unaccompanied minors awaiting immigration hearings, with an estimated scale for thousands rather than the full backlog of more than 3 million cases. Although exact funding remains undisclosed, it draws from reallocations from the Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, like previous voluntary return efforts that strained budgets.

The timing is odd because it coincides with what The Economist just called Trump's victory at the border. With Border Patrol data showing apprehensions near

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