Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'


What happened
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday it would give $1,000 and a plane ticket home to any undocumented immigrants who opted to "self-deport," calling the "historic" offer a "dignified way to leave the U.S." Migrants who register for "voluntary self-deportation" through the Customs and Border Protection app will be "deprioritized for detention and removal," DHS said, so long as "they are making meaningful strides" toward their departure.
Who said what
President Donald Trump said migrants might be given a "path to coming back into the country" if they self-deport, though neither he nor DHS explained how. "Maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in," he said, "if they're the kind of people that we want in our country." But Aaron Reichlin-Melnick at the American Immigration Council told The Associated Press that immigrants would probably be better off staying in the country if they hoped to gain legal status. The administration is pushing self-deportation, he said, because "they’re not getting their numbers."
Trump is "struggling to increase deportations to fulfill" his campaign promise of a million expulsions in his first year, The Wall Street Journal said. Despite aggressive tactics and high deportation quotas, his administration has averaged "about 660 a day, compared with 742 a day in 2024."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that immigrants should trust the offer because "we're giving you our word that we will give you this money and that you can leave today," but there will also be "documentation."
What next?
DHS said it had already paid for one plane ticket for a migrant to return to Honduras from Chicago and more tickets were being booked for this week and next. It's not clear where the department is finding the money for the $1,000 stipends and other costs, but DHS said each self-deportation would cut 70% from the average $17,121 cost of arresting, detaining and removing an immigrant.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Could the next pope be an American?
Today's Big Question Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is a possible 'superpower pope'
-
Today's political cartoons - May 6, 2025
Cartoons Tuesday's cartoons - rare earth minerals, rising prices, and more
-
What to know about Real IDs, America's new identification cards
The Explainer People without a Real ID cannot board a commercial flight as of May 7, 2025
-
Deportations ensnare migrant families, U.S. citizens
Feature Trump's deportation crackdown is sweeping up more than just immigrants as ICE targets citizens, judges and nursing mothers
-
Trump shrugs off warnings over trade war costs
Feature Trump's tariffs are spiraling the U.S. toward an economic crisis as shipments slow down—and China doesn't plan to back down
-
Harvard stares down Trump's tax threat as other schools take note
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Higher ed is on high alert as the nation's premier university prepares to take on the fight of its life
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump's first 100 days: the reshaping of America
Talking Point The second Trump White House is 'less a new administration', and more a 'vengeful monarchy'
-
Trump moves to gut PBS and NPR in latest salvo against the media
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The president's executive order targeting two of the nation's largest public broadcasters comes as the White House seeks to radically reframe how Americans get their news
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations