May 5, 2025
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem calls self-deportation as ‘the best, safest and most cost effective way to leave’
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that the Trump administration is offering a $1,000 stipend to illegal migrants willing to self-deport from the United States, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“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,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X.
She added, “This is the safest option for our law enforcement and aliens and is a 70% savings for US taxpayers.”
Illegal migrants will receive the $1,000 once it’s confirmed they successfully arrived in their home country through the app. One migrant from Honduras already received payment for self-deporting.
The CBP Home app—created by the Biden administration for migrants to schedule appointments to enter the country legally—was converted into a platform for people to report their plans to self-deport. Officials have yet to highlight where money for stipends will come from in the government’s budget or how much money has been allotted.
It also has not been identified if offering migrants such a small stipend, primarily to cover travel costs, is enough to convince migrants to leave on their own accord.
The efforts come as Trump struggles to keep his campaign promise on deportation increases. During Trump’s first 100 days in office, the deportation rate has dropped behind the last year of President Joe Biden’s term: 660 a day compared to 742 a day in 2024.
To help ramp up efforts, the administration has had conversations with other countries, such as Rwanda, to house illegal immigrants, according to Fox News. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said the East African country “has not yet reached a stage where we can say exactly how things will proceed, but the talks are ongoing … still in the early stages.”
As the Trump administration labeled immigration policies as a top priority, Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the plans being taken to implement the focus.
“We have gone to countries all over the world and said, ‘Hey, you want good relations with the United States, you need to take back your people that are here illegally.’ And we’ve had historic cooperation,” Rubio said during a cabinet meeting earlier this month.
“Beyond that, and I say this unapologetically, we are actively searching for other countries to take people from third countries.”
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