As part of a legal settlement that will allow some illegal immigrants who deported themselves from Southern California to return to the United States, the federal government has agreed to advertise the settlement on various Mexican and Spanish-language media outlets. The ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit last year on behalf of eleven illegal immigrants who deported themselves. The settlement reached on Wednesday will only cover "longtime California residents with relatives who are U.S. citizens and... young migrants whose parents brought them into the country illegally" who deported themselves between 2009 and 2013. An ACLU official has indicated that there were nearly 250,000 people who were "deported voluntarily from Southern California between 2009 and 2013" and estimated to the Los Angeles Times that the "number of repatriations could reach into the hundreds or thousands."
The U.S. government, through ad buys online, in print, on billboards, and on radio stations, will hope to reach "friends and family of the affected class" in Southern California and Mexico. According to the settlement, the federal government will advertise on television channels like Univision, ESPN Deportes, MundoFox, El Universal, and the Univision Deportes Network. They will also partner with People en Espanol and even the Mexico National Football Team in addition to placing billboards "in high population Mexican border cities of Tijuana, Tecate and Mexicali, as well as focusing placements near border crossings."
U.S. officials will also place "radio ads :60 in length... on top Spanish speaking radio stations near the Mexico/U.S. border." Those who search for "Lopez Case," "Lopez Class Action," "Voluntary Return to Mexico," "Rights for Detainees," "Detained by ICE," and "Returned to Mexico by ICE" will also be targeted with information about the settlement.