LOS ANGELES, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal officials announced on Sunday a "Deport Yourself" program where people already convicted of being in this nation illegally can avoid arrest by signing up to leave.

    Two cities in Southern California -- Santa Ana and San Diego --are among the four cities chosen to test the program. Two other test cities are Phoenix, Arizona and Charlotte, North Carolina.

    Under the program, persons who have already lost in immigration court, and who have outstanding final deportation orders that they have not obeyed, can avoid arrest through the program, according to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    By some counts, as many as 572,000 people in the United States are considered "fugitive aliens" by ICE and face arrest and possible imprisonment if found by immigration agents, even if they are found while leaving the United States.

    Fugitive aliens are commonly arrested as they attempt walking out of the United States at the Tijuana pedestrian crossing near San Diego, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) south of Los Angeles.

    People who register for the program will be given 90 days to get their affairs in order and arrange to leave the United States. Those who request financial assistance for a ticket to a distant nation will receive it, and once they leave they are banned from returning to the United States, even legally, for 20 years.

    Persons with criminal warrants will be arrested, however, as the program is not an amnesty program, officials said.