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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is intensifying its efforts to persuade unauthorized immigrants to self-deport by offering a $1,000 stipend and travel assistance.
The federal agency announced Monday that those who use the CBP Home app to voluntarily leave the United States will receive assistance “to facilitate travel back to their home country” and $1,000 “paid after their return to their home country has been confirmed through the app.”
According to NBC news, the announcement comes as the number of deportations has remained stagnant during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.
One of the president’s key campaign promises was that he would enact mass deportations as soon as he took office.
In a press release, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said self-deportations are “the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest.”
A single deportation costs U.S. taxpayers $17,121, according to DHS. The federal agency expects self-deportations to decrease that cost by 70%, even after factoring in the stipend.
So far this year, at least 5,000 immigrants have reportedly used CBP Home to say that they were voluntarily leaving the country, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.
Since the start of 2025, the app was downloaded about 300,000 times, according to the company’s CEO, Ariel Michaeli.
In March, the Trump administration repurposed the Biden-era CBP One app that allowed migrants to enter the U.S. legally as asylum-seekers, changing it into the CBP Home app.
This version of the mobile application has a self-deportation reporting feature.
As part of their announcement Monday, DHS said that undocumented immigrants who “submit their intent to voluntarily self-deport in CBP Home will also be deprioritized for detention and removal ahead of their departure as long as they demonstrate they are making meaningful strides in completing that departure.”
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