Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Sean O’Neill, Senior Bureau OfficialBureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Asia Pacific Media Hub

MODERATOR:  Greetings from the U.S. Department of State’s Asia Pacific Media Hub.  I would like to welcome journalists to today’s on-the-record briefing with Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Sean O’Neill, Senior Bureau Official for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.  Assistant Secretary McLaughlin and Senior Bureau Official O’Neill will discuss countering illegal immigration.  The discussion will feature the CBP Home program, which offers unlawfully present aliens the opportunity to voluntarily depart the United States.

With that, let’s get started.  Assistant Secretary McLaughlin, thank you for joining us, and I’ll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  Well, thank you so much.  As you all know, this week the Department of Homeland Security is announcing that it has begun providing financial and travel document assistance for illegal aliens to facilitate travel back to their home country through the CBP Home app.  Any illegal alien who uses the CBP Home app to self-deport will also receive a thousand-dollar stipend, paid after their return to their home country has been confirmed through the app.  And again, as you’ve heard before, self-deportation is the safest and the most dignified way to leave the U.S. and will allow illegal aliens to avoid being encountered by ICE, arrested, detained, and eventually deported.

And there’s also a savings involved.  Even with the cost of the stipend, it’s projected that the use of CBP Home will decrease the cost of deportation by just about 70 percent.  Currently, the average cost to arrest, detain, and remove an alien is just over $17,000.  And we’ve already seen success here.  The first use of travel assistance has already proven successful with an individual who utilized the program to book a flight from Chicago to Honduras.

It’s also important for listeners to know that aliens submitting their intent to voluntarily self-deport through the CBP Home app will also be de-prioritized for detention and removal ahead of their departure as long as they demonstrate that they are making meaningful strides in completing their departure.  And participation in the CBP Home self-deportation app preserves the option for an illegal alien to reenter the United States legally in the future, and that same opportunity is not preserved for those who stick around and who may be arrested, detained, and deported.

So we really encourage anyone who’s illegally in this country to visit dhs.gov/cbphome app, and go on their device and find the app, which is free on any mobile device.  And I’m excited to take any questions.  I think this is a great opportunity for those who are illegally in our country to come back legally the right way to live the American dream.  And this gives them the financial means to do so when they depart, and not only paying for a plane ticket but also paying for that thousand-dollar stipend to potentially pay for meals or other essentials as they make their way home.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you so much, Assistant Secretary McLaughlin.  Now I’ll turn it over to Senior Bureau Official O’Neill for his opening remarks.

MR O’NEILL:  Well, thank you very much, Katie.  Thank you very much, Assistant Secretary McLaughlin.  And thank you to all of our press colleagues from across the Indo-Pacific.  I saw the list and there are so many of you joining us here today, and we’re very grateful for your time.

I’m honored to be joined by my colleague from DHS, and I’m from the State Department, because I think if there’s one message I’d like everyone to take away, that this is absolutely the – one of the top priorities of the Trump Administration.  This is a top domestic priority, and it’s a top foreign policy priority.  I’ve spent a lot of time working with people and governments throughout the Indo-Pacific the last 25 years; I’ve served in eight posts across the Indo-Pacific.

And I would just say that two things I’ve – I can say is in common with every country that I’ve served in:  First, it’s that the citizens of every country that I’ve ever been to expect their governments to protect their borders.  That is a basic obligation that governments have to the citizens of their country.  And second, it’s that we have so much good stuff to do in our diplomatic relations, in our economic relations, in our cultural relations, that I really do not want to see illegal immigration to the United States become the top issue with any country in the Indo-Pacific, and I don’t want to see it ruin the other opportunities that we have.

Every department and agency in the U.S. Government, and especially the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security, is part of this effort to counter illegal immigration.  I think within the first 100 days of this administration, Secretary Rubio has spoken about this extensively, and the State Department has engaged with foreign media in more than 30 languages to get the message out:  Do not come to the United States illegally.  Do not stay here illegally.  Do not violate your visa because if you do, you will be encountered, you will be detained, and you will be deported.

We want people to understand the very serious consequences of overstaying a U.S. visa or entering the U.S. illegally, right?  We want to make America and American borders safer and more secure.  And across the Indo-Pacific, our embassies and consulates are conveying this message to millions of people.  Immigration, illegal immigration, is not just a problem in the Western Hemisphere.  About 17 percent of the illegal immigrant population in the United States comes from the Asia – from Asia Pacific, the EAP region, Asia and the Pacific Islands.

So I’ll just – I want to speak very briefly.  Why is this a threat to the American people and populations across the Indo-Pacific?  I mean, first of all, it’s about the ability to control who enters our country, and that’s obviously a fundamental element of what makes a country a sovereign nation-state, and under President Trump, the U.S., just like every other country, I hope, is determined to assert control over our own borders.

Second, and this is, I think, also common across the Indo-Pacific and certainly common to the United States, major crime organizations across the planet and in this region are heavily involved in illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling operations, drug smuggling, wildlife smuggling, and what have you.  These groups prey upon the most vulnerable individuals out there.  They charge exorbitant fees.  They subject them to dangerous and inhumane conditions.  And the United States, and President Trump, are not going to tolerate these exploitative criminal practices.  And I believe that the nations, our partners and allies and other nations in the Indo-Pacific, should not do so either.

So what are we doing about this over at the State Department?  We’ve been implementing President Trump’s executive orders by working with countries across the region to facilitate the repatriation of people who have final orders of removal from the United States.  We’re also working closely with countries in the region who are willing to accept third country nationals with final orders of removal – in other words, folks who are not actually from that country.  Our rapid response will deter future violators, we hope, of violating immigration law.  And as a demonstration of our commitment to support the President, all of our posts in the field are undertaking public messaging campaigns so there can be no question what our message is.

Since February of this year, over 20 of our East Asia and Pacific embassies and consulates have amplified the administration’s messages on illegal immigration and published op-eds and editorials in more than 10 languages, which I think have earned – our press people have told us it’s earned around 17 million digital views and reactions.  So that’s the good news.  The message is getting out.  We want people overseas to understand the process for legitimate travel, right, which begins by applying for a visa at the United States embassy or consulate, and the consequences of coming to the United States illegally or violating the terms of your visa and staying illegally.  The message is simple.  Please make the right choice.  Please obey the law.  Please travel here legally, and do not put your safety, your family’s safety, or your future at risk by traveling to the United States illegally or remaining here illegally.

Thank you very much for your time.  With that, I’ll pass it back to Katie, and I look forward to answering your questions.  Thank you very much.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We’ll now turn to the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing.  Our first question goes – came in in advance, and it goes to Napat Kongsawad from NHK, based in Bangkok, Thailand, who asks:  “What is the difference for – between a self-deportee and a deportee when it comes to applying for re-entry into the U.S.?  What does the administration mean when it says that a self-deportee’s detention and removal would be de-prioritized?”  And maybe Assistant Secretary McLaughlin can start us off with that one.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  Absolutely.  So a self-deportee will not be at risk of arrest or detention, versus a deportee will be.  So that’s why we so encourage people to use the CBP Home app to self-deport because you also reserve the option to potentially come back the legal, right way if you self-deport; versus if the U.S. has to find you, arrest you, and deport you, you will not reserve the option to come back legally to the United States.  So that’s what we mean.  We think that there’s a stark difference.  There is – the answer really should be crystal-clear, and especially with these incentives of the thousand-dollar stipend and of that financial travel assistance, we really encourage people to self-deport now and maintain that opportunity to come back the legal, right way.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  The next question goes to Sen Nyugen from BBC in Vietnam, who asks:  “I’d like to ask if there’s a high priority list of nationalities that the U.S. wants to target using the thousand-dollar scheme and CBP program.  If so, are Vietnamese part of that?  Any other information regarding Viet undocumented migrants would be appreciated.”

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  I can take that one as well.

MR O’NEILL:  Okay.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  Oh, go ahead, sir.

MR O’NEILL:  Oh, no, no, go ahead.  Please.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  I’ll jump in and then – and then I’ll shuffle over to you.  We are prioritizing anyone who is in this country illegally.  That includes those who are from Vietnam who are in the country illegally.  We’d like to give you a thousand-dollar stipend and for you to return home, if you need it, with financial assistance.  But it’s not just Vietnam, it’s any country of origin.  If you are in the country illegally, you are a priority for us.

I’ll turn it over to you, sir.

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, and I mean I would just add – I would add that stopping illegal immigration, illegal migration, and protecting our borders – that’s a top foreign policy priority for this administration regardless of what country an illegal alien comes from.  And so we do not – we do not discriminate one way or the other.  If you are here illegally, you should go home, and that’s our message to anyone from any country who’s come here illegally.  Ad if you are in another country considering coming here illegally, do not do so.  It doesn’t matter what country you come from.

MODERATOR:  All right.  Next we’ll take a question from our live queue, from Cindy Jung at NEWS1 news agency, based in Seoul.  Cindy, could I ask you to unmute yourself?

QUESTION:  Can you hear me?

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can.

QUESTION:  Okay.  So should I just go straight to the question?

MODERATOR:  Jump right in.

QUESTION:  All right.  So there are growing concerns in the international community regarding President Trump’s anti-immigration policies, particularly in light of recent reports that individuals holding valid visas are facing imminent deportation.  So what is the administration’s official stance on these incidents and what steps is the administration prepared to take to prevent unnecessary or potentially unjust treatment of lawful visa holders is my question.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  I’m happy to take that one.  This administration and President Trump are not anti-immigration, we are anti-immigration or anyone who is on a visa, green card, or not a U.S. citizen who is exploiting U.S. laws.  If you are abiding by U.S. laws, you have nothing to worry about; but if you are here on a visa or green card, you are a guest in this country and you should act as such.  And further, that’s a privilege, it’s not a right, and if you are glorifying terrorists, if you are committing crimes while on a visa or green card, we reserve the right – Secretary Rubio has the authorization to revoke that privilege, and we’ll do so to preserve U.S. national security.

I’ll turn it over to my colleague at the State Department.

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, no, thank you very much, Assistant Secretary McLaughlin.  Yeah, I mean, I would add – I mean, I would echo first of all that the President and this administration are not anti-immigration.  We are anti-illegal immigration, right?  And I think that’s a policy that pretty much every government on Earth shares.  No government supports illegal activity within their borders.

The second part of your question related to valid visas.  Just as a matter of U.S. law – and again, this is common to most immigration systems that I’m aware of around the world – obviously getting a valid visa is a first condition of being in a country legally.  The second basic condition is abiding by the terms of that visa.  And so if you have a valid visa – for example, a valid visa to visit here as a tourist – if you start doing stuff that is inconsistent with the terms of that visa – you told them you were coming here on vacation but instead you start working or smuggling drugs or committing crimes – obviously just having the valid visa doesn’t mean you get to stay if you’re otherwise committing crimes in the U.S.  That’s always been the policy.  And I would add, in addition to deportation, you will also if – when you’re caught and deported, you will also be placed on a list to not get another visa.  So there are significant consequences to violating the terms of your visa, even if you have one.  Over.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Next we’ll go with Chris Gorin from TaiwanPlus, based in Taipei, Taiwan.  Chris, could you please unmute yourself now?

QUESTION:  Yes, can you hear me?

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can.

QUESTION:  Okay.  Yeah, so I was just looking at the – thank you for taking my question, first of all.  I was just looking at the CBP Home app and I noticed that the self-deportation section is only available in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, and that several other sections of the app, including the FAQ and Information section, are only in English.  So there’s no languages from countries in the Indo-Pacific region, and I’m just wondering how you expect any immigrant – Asian immigrant to learn about, let alone use, this part of the app.  Do you plan to include more language support, and if so, when?  Thank you.

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, no, Chris, thank you very much for your – for your question.  I mean, I wrote that down.  I’ll take it back and we’ll see what we can do.  We are, as I mentioned, on the app.  But just to get back to one of the points, we are making a very concerted effort around the world to get this message out, and certainly this is – the CBP One app and this program is relatively new, but we will be using the public affairs mechanisms we have around the world to not only get out the word not to come here, but to get out the word on how to use this app, similar to how we do about how to apply for visas online and whatnot, and our visas forms are not always in every single language.  But it’s a good point and we’ll take it back and I will – and follow up with that.  Thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  Yeah, I’ll just add to that.  The app is in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, but the website will be updated in the coming days and we’re going to expand those languages.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Okay.  Next we have a question that came in via the Q&A tab from Mao Sreypich, a journalist with Kiripost in Cambodia, who asks:  “In the first 100 days of President Trump taking office, how many Cambodians have been deported from the U.S.?  How does the U.S. Government ensure that its deportation practices do not violate human rights?  Cambodia is being placed on the U.S. yellow list.  Could you please clarify the specific concerns that led to the U.S. to place Cambodia on the yellow list?  What are the key areas where the U.S. hopes to see progress within this 60-day period?  And with only 10 days remaining in the 60-day window, could you evaluate the level of engagement and cooperation received from the Cambodian Government in addressing the U.S. concerns?”  Over.

MR O’NEILL:  Well, I’ll let Tricia speak to the first part.  I don’t have any data on the Cambodians.  Then I can – I can maybe address the yellow list, which is a visa issue, if that works.

MODERATOR:  Great.

MR O’NEILL:  Okay, well, I’ll just – I’ll address the yellow list with you.  We don’t have anything to announce on the so-called yellow list right now.  You referenced 10 days remaining in the 60-day window.  As a general matter, we’re not going to comment on internal deliberations or communications with a foreign government.  I will say that I think we’ve been very clear, just as we have with the general public, we’ve been very clear with our counterparts around the world on what our expectations are – we always have been on what our expectations are with respect to cooperation on border security, just as we do on cooperation on counternarcotics or any other transnational crime.  We will continue to do that.  We’ll be very clear with the Cambodian Government, as we are with every other.  And I won’t comment any further on the internal deliberations.  Thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  Thank you, Mr. O’Neill.  I don’t have further information right now on the specific numbers of deportations out of Cambodia, but I can look and see if we can get a country breakdown for you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  I know we had a few questions in the chat about statistics for specific countries.  We’ll hold those for now, then.

With that, maybe we can turn to Kaya Selby from New Zealand’s Radio New Zealand Pacific.  Kaya, you should be able to unmute yourself now.

QUESTION:  Yeah, hi, can you hear me?

MODERATOR:  Yes.

QUESTION:  Cool.  (Inaudible.)  So what assistance is the United States State Department offering developing nations such as Pacific Island nations in rehabilitating deportees and having them back in society once they arrive home, particularly for countries that have kind of high numbers of people arriving home after deportation?

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, thank you for the question.  Well, with respect to citizens of – citizens who are returning to their – aliens who are returning to their country of origin, as a general matter that’s the responsibility of that country, right?  The United States does continue to provide foreign assistance in alignment with our foreign policy.  Much of that assistance might be geared towards addressing specific needs of an entire population, but I’m not aware of anything that’s addressed to that now.  And if there is – in the case of third country nationals, we do have discussions with other countries who agree to take third country national deportees, and those are internal deliberations that I can’t comment on specifically.  But that would be a separate case.

MODERATOR:  Okay.  Next in the live queue we have Damien Cave of The New York Times, based in Vietnam.  Ooh, I’m sorry.  I think I hit the wrong button there.  Sorry, it looks like Damien perhaps has dropped out of the question queue.

Next we have Mar-Vic, Mar-Vic Cagurangan, from the Pacific Island Times in Guam.  Mar-Vic, you should be able to unmute yourself now.

QUESTION:  Hi, hello.  My question is not related to the self-deportation program but it’s related to immigration and border security.  Does Homeland Security still support the visa waiver program for Chinese travelers entering the Northern Mariana Islands or is it something under review?  Hello?

MODERATOR:  Let’s see, do we have any update on that one from Assistant Secretary McLaughlin, perhaps, or SBO O’Neill?

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, I’m going to write that one down and we’ll have to get back to you.  I actually don’t know the specifics of that.  I apologize, Mar-Vic.  But I will.  It’s a specific question, so I’ll follow up and we’ll get you an answer if we can.

MODERATOR:  All right, it looks like we have Damien back.  So now, Damien, you should be able to unmute yourself now.

QUESTION:  Okay.  Yeah, I just did.  Thank you.  Sorry for the mix-up.  Hi, Sean.  Thanks for taking questions.  Sorry I missed you when you came through Vietnam.  You said you don’t want immigration to take away from all the other issues and opportunities for U.S. diplomacy in the region.  At a time when the Trump Administration is cutting back at State, cutting USAID and offering high tariffs across the region, I’m curious what your response is to those who I talk to or I hear from who say U.S. diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific is now all stick, no carrot.  What is the U.S. actually offering?  What are the things that the U.S. is doing and seeking to do to keep partners close, as opposed to doing things that they might find more difficult, like the tariffs, like the deportation policy, like the cutting back of diplomacy and USAID?

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, thanks for your question, Damien.  Listen, I mean, I think there’s an entire host of things that the United States continues to do with our – with our allies, our partners, and countries across the Indo-Pacific, whether it be on economic engagement – and the tariffs are just one aspect of that – cultural exchanges, combatting transnational crime, ensuring the security of the Indo-Pacific, law enforcement training.  There’s an entire host of things that continue to go on, and I think it really would be a shame to perpetuate a false narrative that somehow this administration is disengaging from the Indo-Pacific when in fact it’s just the opposite.

MODERATOR:  Okay.  I think we have time for one last question.  We have one from Maki Pulido, a reporter with GMA, based in Manila in the Philippines, who asks:  “Will there be stricter policies in issuing tourist visas?”

MR O’NEILL:  Sorry, was just getting my mute button off here.

MODERATOR:  I know, it was a short question.  You didn’t have time to prepare.  (Laughter.)

MR O’NEILL:  Well, the standards for adjudicating visitor visas, B-1, B-2 visas, are provided for in the INA, in statute.  And those standards have not changed.  There’s obviously a basic standard that the consular officer needs to be satisfied that you are not an intending immigrant.  In other words, that if you say you are coming on a visit, a temporary visit, that you do intend to leave and return home.  There’s also the requirement to ensure that the person applying for the visa does not have a criminal history or some other ineligibility, which is also contained in law, and that they have not previously violated the terms of a visa – overstayed or done something inconsistent with their visa status, which Assistant Secretary McLaughlin referred to earlier: if somebody were here on a tourist visa or a student visa and they were to engage in illegal activity.

So the standards have not changed.  We will be very vigorously applying those standards, as I think we should always have been, but we are going to – we certainly are going to be taking a very close look at every visa applicant to ensure that we issue visas in compliance with existing U.S. law.

MODERATOR:  All right.  Thank you so much.  And with that, we’re at the end of our time.  I do want to offer our speakers a chance to make any last remarks, if they have them.

Assistant Secretary McLaughlin, are there any last words you’d like to add?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY MCLAUGHLIN:  The only thing I’d say is that I think the option for those in this country, in the United States of America, illegally is crystal-clear:  You can either face daily fines of up to $1,000, be arrested, be detained, and be deported and never allowed to return; or you can take $1,000, get your flight paid for and your family’s flights paid for, and potentially be able to return to the United States legally and live the American dream.  That choice is up to you, but we do offer that to all illegal aliens in this country.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you so much, Assistant Secretary McLaughlin.

Senior Bureau Official O’Neill, I’ll turn it over to you.

MR O’NEILL:  Yeah, once again I want to thank all of our colleagues in the press from the Indo-Pacific region for joining us today.  I’m grateful for your time.  We – as I said, I’ve served for nearly 25 years almost exclusively in the Indo-Pacific region.  There is so much good stuff that we have to get done with each other on prosperity, on strength, on security, on cultural exchanges, and I would just urge everybody – all of your readers and listeners and viewers – please, just as you would obey your own country’s laws, please obey the laws of the United States so that we can focus on all of the many opportunities that we have in front of us.  Thank you.

MODERATOR:  Thank you so much.  That brings us to the end of our time for today.  Thank you for your questions, and a huge thank you to our speakers for joining us.  We will provide a transcript of this briefing to participating journalists as soon as it is available, and we’d also love to hear your feedback.  You can contact us at any time at AsiaPacMedia@state.gov.  Thanks again for your participation, and we hope you can join us for another briefing soon.  Take care.

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