Trump admin launches new app with "self-deport" feature
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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) logo appears on the screen of a smartphone, and in the background, the flag of the United States is on the computer screen in Reno, Nevada. Photo: Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a new app that officials say will allow immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally to report when they "self deport."
Why it matters: The move comes after the Trump administration shut down the CBP One app that facilitated the legal entry of migrants at the border, and as immigrant removals in President Trump's first days in office fall behind the daily average in the final weeks of former President Biden's term.
The big picture: President Trump's vow to deport "millions and millions" of unauthorized immigrants has hit a harsh reality of a lack of funds, detention space, officers and infrastructure.
- The administration is seeking more resources from Congress, but in the meantime is focusing more on threats and new orders for a registry to scare some immigrants out of the country.
Zoom in: The new CBP Home app will have a "self-deportation reporting feature" letting immigrants "submit their intent to depart" the U.S., the DHS announced Monday.
- The department said the self-deportation functionality is a part of a $200 million domestic and international ad campaign encouraging undocumented immigrants to "Stay Out and Leave Now."
- The new app is free across mobile application stores, DHS said.
What they're saying: "The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
- "If they don't, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return."
- Noem said the Biden administration exploited the CBP One app to allow more than 1 million immigrants to enter the U.S. illegally.
Reality check: The Biden administration launched an app for people to schedule legal border crossings but also likely contributed to drawing more Mexican families, experts told Axios.
- The vast majority of migrants who enter the country via the app were released into the U.S. on parole, which allowed them to get a work permit in roughly six weeks and legally stay in the country for up to two years.
- Nearly 1 million migrants used the app under the Biden administration to schedule appointments since that feature launched in January 2023.
What we're hearing: Immigrant immigration lawyers are cautioning immigrants not to use the new "self deport" feature on the CBP Home app.
- They are telling immigrants it will likely only gather their personal data with no hope of giving a legal pathway for residency or citizenship.
The intrigue: Immigrant advocates also denounced the app as mean and confusing.
- "The Trump administration's approach of "self-deportation" will only add chaos and cruelty to an already broken system," said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group America's Voice.
- Cárdenas says the app is stoking fears and encouraging self-deportation among immigrants who came to the country lawfully.
What we're watching: The Biden administration came up with data from the CBP One app, so comparing data from the new CBP Home app could be illuminating.
- The Trump administration has fired staff from the nation's immigration court system, and other staff and judges have announced their retirement or resignation.
- The staff reduction will likely add to the historic backlog of cases and slow Trump's mass deportation plan, even as he asks Congress for more resources.
Go deeper: Where immigrants pay the most taxes
