LOS ANGELES - The Trump administration is offering unaccompanied migrant children $2,500 (S$3,221) to leave the US voluntarily, according to a letter seen by Reuters that was sent to migrant shelters.

Officials at the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed a monetary offer was being made but did not specify an amount.

The move is the latest financial offer made by the DHS under President Donald Trump aimed at encouraging voluntary deportations.

In June, the State Department

moved US$250 million to DHS

According to the letter sent to shelters on Oct 3 by the DHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, the department will provide a “one-time resettlement support stipend of US$2,500” to unaccompanied children 14 or older.

An ICE official said the offer was first being made to 17-year-olds.

Minors from Mexico are not eligible for the programme but children who had already volunteered to leave the US as of Oct 3 would be covered, the letter says.

Ms Wendy Young, president of Kids in Need of Defence, which provides legal services and support to unaccompanied children, called the move “a cruel tactic” that undermined “laws that guarantee” a process to determine if a child is eligible for US protection.

“Unaccompanied children seeking safety in the United States deserve our protection rather than being coerced into agreeing to return back to the very conditions that placed their lives and safety at risk,” Ms Young said in a statement.

According to federal law, migrant children who arrive at US borders without a pare...