Homeland Security has come up with a new idea to solve the issue of illegal immigration.

They are simply saying: Go home.

The code name for this program is Operation Scheduled Departure, and it's essentially a self-deportation policy.

Starting Tuesday and running through Aug. 22 in five major U.S. cities, including Chicago, illegal immigrants facing deportation are invited to walk in to a federal immigration office and turn themselves in.

Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Secretary Julie Myers made the announcement in an interview on Spanish-language television.

Now if it weren't for that fact, I would have thought this was some kind of joke.

It reminds me of a character created by cartoonist and comedian Lalo Alcaraz called Pedro Deportado -- or Peter the Deported One -- who sings a song called "Illegals are Bad," and argues for self-deportation.

And then there's the movie "A Day Without a Mexican." One day, Americans wake up to find that all the Mexicans have vanished. There's nobody left to nanny children, work in restaurants and pick the fields.

But these are examples of satire. What is stunning is that ICE is pitching self-deportation as a serious policy solution. They call it a compassionate solution to the immigration problem.

"This program addresses concerns raised by aliens, community groups, and immigration attorneys who say ICE unnecessarily disrupts families while enforcing the law," Myers said in a statement. "By participating in the Scheduled Departure Program, those who have had their day in court and have been ordered to leave the country have an opportunity to comply with the law and gain control of how their families are affected by their removal."

ICE is targeting about 457,000 illegal immigrant "fugitives" who are here illegally but have no criminal history. These are people who have been ordered deported but remain in the United States.

Where, I have to wonder, is the real incentive for illegal immigrants to give themselves up? The government might or might not pay for their return home. And while awaiting departure, they could have to wear electronic ankle monitors or physically check in at immigration offices.

And those who do leave could face a 10-year ban from coming back.

"It's not realistic and it's kind of ridiculous they would come up with this idea," said Fred Tsao, policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. "Why even check in with ICE? Why not just leave?"

Most illegal immigrants don't just leave because many of them are rooted in their communities and have spouses or children who are U.S. citizens.

There also are few jobs for them at home.

And in the case of Mexico, that government and the U.S. government have agreed to trade policies that make it difficult for Mexican farmers to compete.

Left with no options, many migrate north -- and stay.

Rather than support a policy based on self-deportation or stepped-up raids, like the one that rounded up 400 illegal immigrants in Postville, Iowa, the United States should look at how other countries handle the immigration issue.

In 2005, Spain gave a limited amnesty to 700,000 immigrants who could show they had a six-month work contract. This year, Spain tried another approach by offering a lump sum of cash to any immigrant who would return to his or her home country and agree not to return for at least three years.

While these may not be perfect solutions, they are at least more realistic.

It sure beats asking people to turn themselves in and say "deport me."