Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claims that “If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the U.S. to avoid arrest.”
The main benefit of voluntary or self-deportation is that it helps deportable immigrants avoid becoming inadmissible as aliens who have been arrested, put in removal proceedings and deported pursuant to a deportation order. But permitting self-deportation doesn’t just benefit immigrants — it also provides the government with a cost-effective way to remove deportable immigrants without a hearing.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the administration is using the CBP Home program to encourage illegal immigrants to self-deport. But there is an additional step the administration should take to maximize the benefit: Self-deportation through CBP Home should be limited to immigrants who are in the immigration court’s backlog, rather than offering it to deportable immigrants generally.
The current backlog is so large, at more than 3.6 million cases, that it is severely limiting the administration’s ability to put deportable immigrants through removal proceedings. With some exceptions, such proceedings are needed to get necessary deportation orders. A significant reduction in the backlog would facilitate fulfilling Trump’s campaign promise of mass deportations.
The administration launched the CBP Home self-deportation program on March 10, 2025, to facilitate implementation of Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, Executive Order 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion.”
This order terminated the previous administration's policy of limiting enforcement efforts to undocumented immigrants “who pose a threat to national security, public safety, and border security.” It declares that “the immigration laws will be faithfully executed against all inadmissible and removable aliens.”
The policy change requires a major increase in deportations, which is facilitated by the CBP Home program’s incentives that encourage deportable immigrants to leave on their own volition. On May 5, the administration expanded the program to provide additional incentives, including a $1,000 stipend when the self-deporting immigrant confirms their return through the CBP Home app and, if needed, financial and travel document assistance. Participation deprioritizes enforcement actions for the individual by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allowing time for the participating immigrant to take care of work, school and personal matters prior to departure. Further, participants can register family members as co-travelers and depart together.
It also benefits the administration financially. The average cost to arrest, detain, conduct removal proceedings and deport an immigrant is $17,121; self-deportation under the CBP Home program costs only around $4,500.
The American Immigration Law Association claims that, “The government’s recent offer of $1,000 to individuals who voluntarily leave the U.S. is not as simple — or as safe — as it sounds.” The government is not explaining the “hardship or legal risks” the immigrants will face if they self-deport, the association says, and immigrants shouldn’t do anything “without first obtaining good legal advice.” (Of course, there is no hint that the organization's members will reduce their fees to make such advice available.)
Some immigration advocates have expressed doubt about whether the immigrants will receive the $1,000 stipend or be able at some point to apply for legal status. I don’t know why they think the administration would fail to give the stipend to participants who confirm that they have returned to their own country. If word gets out that they aren’t paying the stipend, it could destroy the program.
The advocates are right, however, that leaving voluntarily under this program will not necessarily make it possible for the immigrants in this program to return lawfully. But it could prevent them from becoming inadmissible as immigrants previously removed. It would be wrong to undervalue that benefit. Immigrants who have been removed previously are inadmissible for five, 10, or even 20 years, depending on the circumstances.
The administration is depending on the Alien Enemies Act to remove a specified group of immigrants without hearings, and its use is being challenged in court. Even if the administration prevails on that question, it will need to rely on hearings before immigration judges to conduct mass deportations when the supply of immigrants subject to the act is exhausted. The administration should therefore consider limiting the CBP Home program's benefits to the 3,629,627 immigrants on the immigration court’s backlog, instead of making it available to deportable immigrants generally.
The immigration court could send letters to the immigrants in that backlog, offering them an opportunity to leave voluntarily through the CBP Home program instead of continuing to wait for a hearing. This should appeal to immigrants who do not have a realistic prospect of receiving relief in removal proceedings.
Immigrants in the backlog should make sure that the immigration court has their current address. Failure to respond to the CBP Home program letter could result in a second letter giving them notice of a master calendar hearing; failure to appear at a master calendar hearing can result in being ordered deported in absentia (without the immigrant’s presence).
The CBP Home program is a good idea. It just isn’t being implemented properly.
Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years.
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