DHS Says Self-Deportation Numbers Hit 72,000

The Department of Homeland (DHS) shared that nearly 35,000 illegal aliens chose to go home through the no-penalty exit of “voluntary departure” last year.

Data from the Department of Justice (DOJ) shows that in “fiscal year 2025, more than 34,707 people nationwide were granted voluntary departure,” representing a fourfold increase from the “8,663 the year before,” NBC10 News reported.

Additionally, a document that was “shared internally within DHS and reviewed by CNN” revealed that as of March 2026, roughly 72,000 illegal migrants had chosen to self-deport under the Trump administration. Out of this number, roughly 37,281 migrants who agreed to voluntary deportation “were already” in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

CNN also reported that a “sworn statement of an executive from Salus Worldwide Solutions” revealed that as of the beginning of December 2025, the Trump administration “had authorized nearly 35,000 stipends to individuals who had registered as self-deported”:

As of December 1, the government had authorized nearly 35,000 stipends to individuals who had registered as self-deported, although only 17,406 had been completed at the time, according to the sworn statement of an executive from Salus Worldwide Solutions, which holds a three-year contract to run Project Homecoming.

A senior official for the Department of Homeland Security offered similar numbers in a separate sworn statement that month. In addition to more than 38,380 who had voluntarily left the US under the program, nearly 28,600 others were in “various stages awaiting departure,” said Benjamine Huffman in his capacity as acting undersecretary for management at DHS.

In a post on X, DHS shared a video from NBC10 News, which highlighted how “tens of thousands more” illegal migrants have used the app through Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to return to their home countries.

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