The White House has unveiled a dramatic new plan under which migrants will be paid up to $1,000 if they deport themselves from the U.S.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared a proposal to incentivize self-deportation through the CBP Home app, which the Trump administration is using to facilitate the removal of migrants in the U.S. illegally.
Illegal migrants who use the app to deport themselves are promised a flight out of the country at no cost.
In addition they will be given a cash prize.
‘Any illegal alien who uses the CBP Home App to self-deport will also receive a stipend of $1,000 dollars, paid after their return to their home country has been confirmed through the app,’ a DHS spokesman said.
The average cost to arrest, detain, and remove an illegal alien from the country is well over $17,000, according to DHS.
Should migrants choose to collect the cash reward and free flights, DHS could see savings up to 70 percent, the agency said.
Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, one of the masterminds behind Trump’s sweeping immigration agenda, said the long-term savings per self-deported family could end up being well over $1 million.
A migrant uses the CBP One app to track his asylum case. Trump has since repurposed the app to be used for deportation operations
The president flashes a his ‘Trump card,’ a $5 million card that will grant legal status to live in the U.S. to migrant buyers willing to foot the price tag
Trump puts his hands on a box of prize money at golf event in 2006
‘The savings are as much as $1 million per illegal alien family given the long-term costs of free welfare and public support,’ he wrote on X.
In a statement, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem noted how its the most cost-effective way to remove illegal aliens.
‘If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,’ she said.
Noem went on to say self-deportation is the safest option for the aliens and the U.S. law enforcement officers who would otherwise be tasked with hunting them down.
Since Noem and ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan have launched an aggressive deportation operation over 150,000 illegal aliens have been removed from the U.S.
In that same time, span there have been over 168,000 arrests by DHS officials.
The CBP Home app, which Trump officials are using to facilitate self-deportations, was originally created by Joe Biden’s administration to help migrants get into the U.S.
The app would allow migrants who arrive at the U.S. border to set up profiles to explain their asylum claim or any other reason prompting their journey.
DHS Sec. Kristi Noem, shown standing in front of criminals at an El Salvador prison, noted how self-deportation is the safest and most cost effective way to get illegal aliens out of the U.S.
A migrant shows how his asylum case was canceled after Trump was sworn into office
Venezuelans awaiting deportation orders are shown at a Texas migrant facility in April 2025
Over 930,000 migrants took the Biden-era offer and used the app as a way to enter the U.S.
However, since the Trump administration has taken office, DHS has now warned migrants who entered using the platform to leave immediately.
‘It is time for you to leave the United States,’ an email sent to app users earlier this year began.
‘DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole immediately,’ the message continued.
Trump has noted that those who leave via the app may be allowed back in, a large selling point the administration has noted in commercials and ads asking individuals to self-deport.
‘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,’ the president has said.
