Trump's Self-Deportation Program: 'TO ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS: BOOK YOUR FREE FLIGHT RIGHT NOW!' (May 9, 2025)

President Donald Trump gave illegal immigrants a choice: take a free ticket home, or face the consequences. “Today, I signed an Executive Order to launch the first-ever self-deportation program. Illegal aliens who stay in America face punishments, including—sudden deportation, in a place and manner solely of our discretion. TO ALL ILLEGAL ALIENS: BOOK YOUR FREE FLIGHT RIGHT NOW!” Trump posted on May 9, 2025, according to the American Presidency Project [1].

The order was Proclamation 10935, establishing Project Homecoming. It “will present illegal aliens with a choice: either leave the United States voluntarily, with the support and financial assistance of the Federal Government, or remain and face the consequences,” the proclamation says [2].

The video above shows the White House’s announcement of the self-deportation program on May 9, 2025. Quotes are from the American Presidency Project and Straight Arrow News [1][2][3][4][5].

”A Full-Scale Invasion”

“Over the last 4 years, the United States has endured a full-scale invasion of aliens entering and remaining in the country illegally, causing a relentless onslaught of crime, vagrancy, violence, and death in countless American communities,” the proclamation says [2].

“In Fiscal Year 2023 alone, these costs were estimated to exceed $150 billion in taxpayer dollars,” it says of the cost to taxpayers [2].

The White House blamed the last administration. “The Biden Administration’s lenient border policies allowed thousands of illegal aliens to enter the United States daily, with 40% of catch-and-release migrants totally disappearing,” the fact sheet says [3].

“Therefore, the provision of financial incentives to encourage and assist aliens illegally in the country to elect to depart from the United States has the potential to save tremendous taxpayer resources, while restoring the sovereignty of our country,” the proclamation says [2].

Free Flights and an “Exit Bonus”

The proclamation says “any flights provided to illegal aliens voluntarily and permanently departing the United States” through the program “shall be funded by the Federal Government.” [2]

It orders “financial incentives in the form of an ‘exit bonus’ for each illegal alien who voluntarily and permanently departs the United States.” [2]

The White House said the plan “offers a concierge service at airports to assist with booking travel and claiming an exit bonus.” [3]

“It creates a streamlined process for departure using the CBP Home app, provides government-funded flights at no cost to illegal aliens, facilitates travel for those lacking valid travel documents,” the White House said [3].

”Remain and Face the Consequences”

Those who stay face penalties. The proclamation calls for a campaign to warn illegal immigrants of “the sweeping consequences for those who choose to remain illegally present, including removal, prosecution, incarceration, and fines,” along with “the garnishment of wages; and the confiscation of savings and personal property, including homes and vehicles.” [2]

It also orders the Homeland Security enforcement force to grow “by no less than 20,000 officers in order to conduct an intensive campaign to remove illegal aliens who have failed to depart voluntarily.” [2]

“It directs a full-scale, aggressive deportation surge, including with an additional 20,000 officers, for illegal aliens who do not depart voluntarily,” the White House fact sheet says [3].

Among the steps the White House listed since January: “Restarted border wall construction.” And: “Detained the most dangerous illegal criminal aliens in Guantanamo Bay and El Salvador’s prisons.” [3]

“They Deport Themselves”

Trump had explained the idea four days earlier in the Oval Office, when a reporter asked about paying illegal immigrants “a thousand dollars to self-deport.” [4]

“So we’re going to have a self-deportation, where they deport themselves out of our country,” Trump said. “And we’ll work with them, and we’re going to try, and if they—if we think they’re good, if they have—you know, if they’re people we want in our country, they’re going to come back into our country. We’ll give them a little easier route.” [4]

“But if they don’t work and if we take them out after the date, then they’re never coming back, and that’s the least of the problems that they’re going to have,” Trump said [4].

By the Numbers

$150 billion+: the estimated cost of illegal immigration to taxpayers in fiscal 2023, per the proclamation [2].
20,000: new enforcement officers ordered, per the proclamation [2].
$1,000: the original exit bonus, per Straight Arrow News [5].
About $17,000: what ICE estimated it costs to arrest, detain and remove one person, per Straight Arrow News [5].

What Happened Next

The bonus tripled for the holidays. In December 2025, DHS raised “the ‘exit bonus’ from $1,000 to $3,000 for those who sign up to self-deport by the end of the year,” Straight Arrow News reported. “The package also includes a free flight home.” [5]

“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,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said [5].

DHS said that year “622,000 people have been deported so far this year and 1.9 million have left the country voluntarily,” Straight Arrow News reported, adding that the numbers had not been independently verified [5].

For Trump on reopening Alcatraz that same week, see HYGO News’ page on May 4, 2025. For the Laken Riley Act and Guantanamo, see the page on Jan. 29, 2025.