Honduras welcomes first self-deportation flight from U.S. under Trump's $1,000 Voluntary Deportation Program

The Trump admin has been introducing several measures to make their deportation drive successful. In a recent update, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has conducted its first charter flight as part of a new voluntary “self-deportation” program. Under this program, migrants are offered a stipend of $1,000 (INR 85549.70) to people agreeing to leave the United States voluntarily. Under this program, today (on Monday) a flight took off from Houston at around 9:30 AM carrying 64 individuals from Honduras and Colombia.

This initiative came into effect in March. With this, the U.S. plans to offer financial support to migrants who decide to go back to their home countries. In addition to the $1,000 stipend, participants are offered travel assistance and are assured that they can legally return to the U.S. in the future. DHS also said that this was a voluntary operation and not a deportation action carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Not only the migrants also received a warm welcome upon arrival in their homeland. Honduras received 38 returnees who were greeted by both their families and government representatives. They were also enrolled in the country’s “Hermano, Hermana, Vuelve a Casa” (Brother, Sister, Come Back Home) program. The program also offers assistance such as a $100 (INR 8,551.03) bonus for adults over 18. The returnees were also offered food vouchers, and help in securing getting jobs.

Colombia, on the other hand, received 26 returnees who were welcomed by their families and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Migration Colombia. Social services were made available to them through the Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) and the Department of Social Prosperity.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has urged migrants who are in the U.S. illegally to use the CBP Home App to take advantage of the program, which allows for a smoother and financially supported return to their home countries. She also warned that those who do not choose to self-deport may face fines, arrests, deportation, and be barred from returning to the U.S. in the future.

The self-deportation program is part of the Trump administration’s broader immigration policy and seeks to offer a less costly alternative to the process of deportation. DHS claims that it costs around $17,000 (INR 17,10,600) per person to arrest, detain, and deport an individual who is in the U.S. illegally.


Since Trump became the President, 152,000 people have been deported from the U.S. Trump had pledged to deport millions, but the actual number of deportations so far has been lower than expected. In March, DHS also re-launched an app, the CBP Home App, which was initially introduced during the Biden administration to manage legal immigration entries. The app has been rebranded to facilitate the voluntary self-deportation process, helping migrants manage their departure and access the financial incentives offered by the program.

In short, the self-deportation program offers a new and healthy way to undocumented immigration.