The Trump administration announced Monday a new initiative offering $1,000 stipends to migrants who voluntarily depart the United States, marking its latest effort to accelerate deportations while reducing costs.
The Department of Homeland Security said the stipend and travel assistance would be available to migrants who elect to “self deport” using the government’s CBP Home app. Officials emphasized that this approach would be substantially less expensive than formal deportation proceedings.
According to DHS, the average cost of arresting, detaining and deporting someone without legal status is currently about $17,000. The agency claims that even with the $1,000 payment, a voluntary departure would decrease deportation costs by approximately 70 percent.
“If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” said Secretary Kristi Noem in a statement. “DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App.”
The self-deportation program transforms technology initially deployed for different purposes. In March, the administration launched the rebranded app called CBP Home to facilitate self-deportation. The app, previously called CBP One, was used by the Biden administration to allow migrants to enter the U.S. legally.
The department reported early signs of program participation. DHS said it has already helped some migrants obtain flight tickets to return to their native countries, with one migrant having returned to Honduras using the self-deportation program to book a flight out of Chicago.
President Trump has repeatedly indicated the possibility of future legal migration for those who depart under this program. Trump previewed the stipend plan in April, saying the U.S. would consider allowing migrants to return. “If they’re good, if we want them back in, we’re going to work with them to get them back in as quickly as we can,” he said. However, in Monday’s announcement, DHS said people who choose to leave “may help preserve” the ability to return legally, but did not cite any specific pathway or program.
Immigration advocates have expressed skepticism about the initiative. Aaron Reichlen-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said there’s much to be cautious about in this offer from Homeland Security. He noted it could be detrimental for people to leave the country rather than fight their case in immigration court, especially if they’re already in removal proceedings.
“People’s immigration status is not as simple as this makes it out to be,” Reichlen-Melnick told reporters.
The self-deportation concept isn’t new to American immigration policy. The U.S. previously ran a self-deportation program in 2008, then called Operation Self Departure. It sought to encourage 457,000 unauthorized immigrants from five cities to leave the country, but only eight people participated.
Other nations including Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have previously offered financial incentives for voluntary departure, with varying degrees of success.
The initiative comes as the administration faces obstacles to its broader deportation agenda. President Trump’s plans for mass deportations have been hindered by multiple court challenges and stretched resources at the Department of Homeland Security. To quickly increase detention capacity, the administration has begun sending migrants to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.
The announcement arrives amid a series of aggressive immigration enforcement actions. The administration said recently that around 47,000 immigrants not previously registered with the government had done so under the Alien Registration Requirement. The White House continues to press forward with warnings to visa and green card holders and an increase in the use of local police and sheriff’s departments for deportation enforcement efforts.
