Image Credit: Jan Sonnenmair / Contributor / Getty Images 
A record number of illegal aliens are now choosing to self-deport rather than be deported, according to new figures released by CBS News.
The figures show that in 2025 almost 30% of deportation cases ended with the illegal alien choosing to self-deport rather than be removed from the US.
“That figure only appears to be climbing as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown widens and detention populations swell,” CBS 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.”
The figures are a clear sign that the Trump administration’s policy of providing incentives for illegals to leave the country is working.
Illegal aliens who self-deport via the administration’s CBP Home app are now given a $2,600 stipend and a free plane ticket.
“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 announced last month.
“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.”
The administration has claimed at least two million illegals have now left the US of their own choice.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics backs up this claim, showing that the foreign-born population of the US has declined by 2.3 million since President Trump took office.
