Report: Record Number of Illegal Aliens Self-Deporting U.S. Under Trump



White House/Daniel Torok

by John Binder 13 Feb 2026
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A record number of illegal aliens are leaving the United States, proving the effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s financial incentives to those who self-deport.

According to figures reviewed by CBS News, in 2025, almost 3-in-10 deportation cases ended with illegal aliens choosing to self-deport from the U.S. — the highest share of self-deportations in such cases on record.

“That figure only appears to be climbing as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown widens and detention populations swell,” CBS News reports:

The percentage of voluntary departures among those detained grew nearly every month of 2025, reaching 38% in December. The analysis does not include those who were not given a hearing before an immigration judge, such as immigrants in expedited removal proceedings. [Emphasis added]

Last year, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced stipends for illegal aliens who self-deport via the administration’s CBP Home app, along with a free flight back to their native country.

In January, DHS officials said they were upping the stipend to $2,600 in addition to a free flight home for illegal aliens. Officials have suggested that about two million illegal aliens have self-deported within the last year.

“To celebrate one year of this administration, the U.S. taxpayer is generously increasing the incentive to leave voluntarily for those in this country illegally — offering a $2,600 exit bonus,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return.

In Trump’s first year of his second term, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the foreign-born population has declined by 2.3 million, a total reversal of former President Joe Biden’s years in office, when the foreign-born population grew by an unprecedented 7.4 million in just four years.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...s-under-trump/