How a broken system reduces human lives to numbers.
Opinion | The Haitian Pulse Editorial Team | July 3, 2025
After 20 years of living in the United States, paying taxes, raising children, and contributing to a society that was never fully yours, you are asked to leave. And in return for decades of labor, the system offers you a $1,000 stipend—an amount that doesn’t even cover a month’s rent in the very country you helped build.
This is the reality of Project Homecoming, a U.S. government initiative paying undocumented immigrants to self-deport. For Haitians who have spent years working in agriculture, construction, healthcare, and other essential industries, the offer is not just inadequate—it is an insult.
“Twenty years of taxes, and they send you away with a check that feels more like hush money than justice. Is this how dignity is measured?” asks a Haitian community organizer in Miami.
The Two Choices Haitians Face
Haitians facing deportation are now forced into an impossible decision. Either:
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Self-Deportation with a $1,000 stipend: Depart voluntarily through CBP One and accept the token payment to cover expenses—knowing it barely scratches the surface of what you’ve contributed.
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Physical Removal: Face formal deportation, which may involve months in detention, separation from family, and a long-term bar on reentry to the United States.
Neither path offers dignity, and both carry lasting scars.
The Hidden Contributions of Haitian Migrants
Haitian migrants, like many others, have quietly fueled the U.S. economy while being excluded from its full protections. They’ve paid into Social Security they’ll never collect. They’ve worked two or three jobs to support families on both sides of the ocean. They’ve filled labor shortages in sectors deemed “essential” during the pandemic—only to be deemed “illegal” when the political winds shifted.
Yet when the time comes to leave, the system offers them a meager sum and no recognition of their contributions. No path to citizenship. No amnesty. Just a thin envelope with a token amount and the unspoken message: thank you for your service, now get out.
A System Built on Exploitation
This is not charity. It’s a cost-saving strategy for the U.S. government. Formal deportations cost taxpayers an average of $12,500 per person. A $1,000 stipend is a bargain for a system eager to cleanse itself of those it once depended on.
“They used our hands to harvest their crops, clean their homes, and care for their sick. And now, for all our sacrifices, they send us back with crumbs,” laments a Haitian mother preparing to return to Port-au-Prince.
The insult is magnified by the reality awaiting deportees. Haiti, ravaged by political instability and economic collapse, offers little chance for a fresh start. For many, the “voluntary departure” is not a choice but an act of desperation.
The Price of Dignity
This is all the more reason for Haitians labeled as illegal migrants to start building a new mindset: Haiti has no friends. The time spent abroad should not be wasted. Having witnessed how a functioning society operates, it is imperative that deportees return with the determination to join those fighting on the ground in Haiti. They must fight tooth and nail to dismantle the corrupt system and work wholeheartedly to build a Haiti we would all be proud of.
“This is our moment to reclaim the dignity they have stripped from us—not with silence, but with action at home,” says a Haitian activist.
Final Thought
A thousand dollars cannot erase twenty years of sweat and sacrifice. It cannot buy back dignity or undo decades of exclusion. For Haitians and all migrants facing this choice, the question is not just how to leave—but how to demand recognition for all they’ve given before they go. And more importantly, how to return with purpose to rebuild what was stolen.
The Haitian Pulse delivers unfiltered, unapologetic commentary rooted in Haiti’s struggles and triumphs. We write for those who refuse to accept silence as the price of survival. Sign up for updates and leave your thoughts in the comments below—because your voice matters.
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