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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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The Trump administration announced Monday that it will pay illegal immigrants to self-deport rather than await arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Those without legal status whom the administration says should not remain in the country could be paid as much as $1,000 if they use the CBP Home app to record their departure.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump's plans for mass deportations have been hindered by multiple court challenges and stretched resources at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The administration began encouraging those without legal status to self-deport in early March. Figures on how many migrants have taken the White House up on that offer have, so far, not been made public.
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What To Know
In an announcement Monday, DHS said it was offering the stipend to those who prove they have made it back to their home country, using the self-deport feature on CBP Home.
As the federal government seeks to remove millions of those without legal status, including those whose Biden-era protections were revoked in recent months, it called self-deportation a "dignified way to leave the U.S."
According to DHS, the cost of arresting, detaining, and removing each immigrant is around $17,121, meaning the department could potentially save millions of dollars if the stipend entices enough people to deport themselves.
Nearly two months on from CBP Home's launch, figures on self-deportation have not been made public, but the department said in its Monday announcement that an immigrant recently used the feature to leave Chicago for Honduras, while other tickets had been purchased also.
The U.S. has run a self-deport program before, in 2008, then called Operation Self Departure. It sought to incentivize 457,000 illegal immigrants from five cities to leave the country, but only eight people took part.
Other countries, including Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, have offered financial incentives in the past for those who choose to self-deport. While some programs were successful, others failed to generate large numbers of volunteers.
In the U.S., the administration said again that those who self-deport could then be allowed back into the U.S. legally at a later time, though it is not clear how or if that would be possible. For the majority of those found to have entered the country illegally, or seen their legal status lapse, there are bans on reentering the country.
As the second Trump administration marked 100 days, it announced that around 47,000 immigrants not previously registered with the government had done so under the Alien Registration Requirement (ARR). Many of those will likely be expected to leave the country or face tougher penalties.
What People Are Saying
Kathleen Bush-Joseph, policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told Newsweek: "I fully expect that departures reported through the app will be counted towards the Trump administration's deportations tally, which is reportedly not as high as the president would like it to be. It appears that the Trump administration is on track to deport roughly half a million noncitizens in its first year, far below its stated aim of one million."
President Donald Trump, from the Oval Office on Monday: "We're going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from. They will have a period of time, and if they make it, we're going to work with them so that, maybe someday, with a little work they can come back in."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in a press release: "If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest. DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App. This is the safest option for our law enforcement, aliens and is a 70% savings for US taxpayers. Download the CBP Home App today and self-deport."
What Happens Next
The White House continues to press forward with its hardline stance on immigration, with warnings to visa and green card holders to act as guests of the United States, and an increase in the use of local police and sheriff's departments as part of deportation enforcement efforts.
Update 5/5/25, 12:54 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Kathleen Bush-Joseph.
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