Harvard grad who self-deported feared being taken every day by ICE

(NewsNation) — A 2013 Harvard postgraduate surviving successful Texas made the pugnacious determination to self-deport to Mexico with his husband, who is simply a U.S. citizen. NewsNation's Jorge Ventura joined "NewsNation Live" to sermon Francisco Hernandez-Corona's turbulent situation.

Hernandez-Corona says helium feared being apprehended by ICE, which prompted him and his husband, Irving Hernandez-Corona, to marque the decision. He adjacent stopped driving conscionable retired of caution.

"I person nary transgression record," said Hernandez-Corona. "I person a enactment permit. I wasn't successful a concern wherever I felt similar I'm going to beryllium deported tomorrow."

At property 11, Hernandez-Corona's begetter paid smugglers to bring him crossed the borderline illegally.

"Somewhere connected the border, a random radical of radical that I ne'er met, again, I'm a child, and they told america we're going to transverse the desert," helium added. "And it's going to beryllium long, and it's going to instrumentality a batch of time. Second to my ma passing away, it's the astir traumatizing happening I've ever been through."

Hernandez-Corona acknowledged that erstwhile helium decided to self-deport, helium bought a level summons backmost to Mexico and near retired of fearfulness that helium would beryllium sent to a antithetic state different than his own. This announcement follows the Department of Homeland Security's declaration that migrants utilizing the CBP One App to self-deport will receive a $1,000 question stipend upon returning to their location country.

There is nary nonstop fig connected however galore migrants are self-deporting this way, extracurricular of authoritative programs.

The DHS confirmed to NewsNation that thousands of migrants person present utilized the CBP Home App. Just past week, they unveiled the archetypal Project Homecoming charter flight, which brought 64 migrants who had opted to self-deport backmost to Honduras and Colombia. Since the commencement of 2025, much than 10,000 would-be immigrants person reversed course and gotten boats from Panama to Colombia to self-deport themselves.

Hernandez-Corona is presently barred from reentering the U.S. owed to his migration status.

Since self-deporting, Hernandez-Corona and his hubby person settled successful Puerto Vallarta for astir a period now.