Is doing a Jojo now worth the candle?

Jojo — a name that has often evoked the memory of a man who thought he was a loner. Or a man who may have left his Mexican home near Tucson, Arizona, for some greener grass in California. A name that has become synonymous with getting back to where you once belonged.

Like Project Homecoming for the unwanted people in America.

Levity aside, this corner dashed off a light commentary last year featuring a Beatles song character named Jojo to explain the US government’s novel program of enticing millions of undocumented individuals, including hundreds of thousands of overstaying Filipinos, to self-deport from the US in exchange for a $1,000 cash incentive and free airfare.

In short, paying them off with a thousand bucks (plus change) to get them to go back to where they once belonged.

As an added incentive, participants would also be removed from enforcement priority, meaning the threat of being arrested and detained would be lessened considerably for those who would apply.

Back then, however, the offer did not guarantee a clean slate as far as an applicant’s immigration court liability, if any, was concerned.

Thus, if an applicant with a pending deportation case decided to participate, the applicant would be deemed to have abandoned the immigration court proceeding, which could proceed in absentia, resulting in the forfeiture of affirmative defenses as well as exposure to a permanent or prolonged reentry bar to the US.

Recently, however, and presumably to sweeten the deal, the USDHS made a slight modification to the program by adding a condition that the government itself would file a motion to dismiss the cases of applicants with pending deportation proceedings.

Assuming that the USDHS would make good on its promise, this is a potential game-changer for the simple reason that a final order of removal, whether issued in absentia or not, carries with it a 10-year reentry disqualification, if not a permanent reentry bar, to the US.

Add to this the recent increase in cash incentive from $1,000 to $2,600 (approximately P148,000 at today’s exchange rate) and the US government has a clear winner.

Nonetheless, as noted in the last year’s piece, some Filipinos might dismiss the program’s enticements as a cheap stimulus for giving up the opportunities in the land of milk and honey, while others might have deeper reasons for giving it a pass, including the specter of a long-term family separation, or the fear that the US government might renege on its promise.

Still, due to the nasty — not to mention deadly — goings-on that have spooked immigrant communities across the country, Project Homecoming has become more palatable to a lot of people lately, including the thousands who had self-deported recently.

This despite a lawyers group calling the program a “deeply misleading and unethical trick” because it “is not as simple — or as safe — as it sounds.”

In light of the above developments, therefore, it is getting more and more likely that undocumented Filipinos in America will one day wake up and decide that it’s worth the candle to give up the greener California grass to avoid becoming a loner in captivity.

Certainly not what Mr. Paul McCartney envisioned his Jojo character to be. Speaking words of wisdom, letting it be is the way to be.