On May 9, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation, "Establishing Project Homecoming," to give certain aliens (any person not a U.S. citizen or national) without lawful status in the United States the choice to either voluntarily leave the country "with the support and financial assistance of the Federal Government or remain and face the consequences." The President cites 8 U.S.C. §1185(a)(1), which permits the President authority to prescribe "reasonable rules, regulations, and orders" governing any alien's entry to and departure from the United States, as authority for agencies to facilitate an alien's departure from the United States under the proclamation. Among other provisions, the proclamation mandates creating "seamless processes for illegal aliens to rapidly depart the United States, including through available technological resources, such as the 'CBP Home' application."
Prior to the proclamation, on March 10, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that its mobile smartphone application, formerly named CBP One, had been renamed CBP Home and its functionality expanded to allow aliens to voluntarily notify DHS of their intent to leave the United States through a new feature, Intent to Depart. It allows users to submit biographical information (e.g., nationality, date of birth) and a photograph to initiate departure. DHS describes this act as both "self-departure" and "self-deportation."
On May 5, 2025, DHS announced it will assist eligible aliens who lack a valid unexpired passport with obtaining travel documents and booking travel tickets paid for by the U.S. government. Once initiated, DHS will temporarily deprioritize the alien's detention and removal before the scheduled departure. After DHS verifies the alien's return to the home country via the app, it will pay the alien a $1,000 stipend.
Introduction and Use of CBP One
CBP first launched CBP One in October 2020 for use by certain travelers and cargo carriers, and for other purposes, at designated land ports of entry (POEs). In January 2023, following record-high levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest border (Figure 1), the Biden Administration initiated a new CBP One function to try to help remedy what many viewed as a disorderly enforcement environment between POEs. The app created a specified path for asylum seekers to be processed for removal at POEs and then released to await their proceedings. DHS's stated objective was to reduce lines and waiting times at POEs while providing "safe, orderly, and humane processing." Some questioned whether this approach expanded immigration pathways for individuals who otherwise should be considered inadmissible.
When the app function was introduced for this purpose, an order under Title 42 of the U.S. Code (Public Health) restricted entry at U.S. land borders, but certain individuals who CBP considered eligible for humanitarian exceptions to the public health restrictions (e.g., those with age or health vulnerabilities) were permitted to use CBP One to provide advance information to schedule appointments for inspection and processing on a case-by-case basis.
CBP One allowed individuals who lacked appropriate admission documents and were located in Northern or Central Mexico to submit biometric and biographic information in advance for an initial immigration screening. Upon approval, eligible aliens were permitted to schedule appointments at eight Southwest border POEs to be inspected by CBP's Office of Field Operations (OFO) and processed for formal removal proceedings in immigration court. During such proceedings, individuals could apply for asylum and other forms of protection as a defense against removal and then typically remain in the United States during the pendency of the proceedings.
In May 2023, the Biden Administration lifted the public health emergency, ended related travel restrictions under Title 42, and expanded CBP One appointments at designated POEs to all asylum seekers located in Northern or Central Mexico. Most individuals granted a CBP One appointment were inspected at POEs, placed into removal proceedings, issued a notice to appear in immigration court, released from DHS custody, and granted immigration parole for two years. (Under 8 U.S.C. §1182(d)(5), the DHS Secretary has discretionary authority to temporarily parole an applicant for admission into the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit on a case-by-case basis.) Many who were paroled into the country applied for asylum and work authorization.
CBP One allowed many migrants to use POEs instead of attempting unlawful entry between POEs. The number of appointments at POEs (recorded by CBP as enforcement encounters) increased in part due to the use of CBP One (Figure 1). DHS data indicate that 904,530 individuals scheduled appointments using CBP One between January 2023 and November 2024 (Figure 2).
|
Source: Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS) analysis of CBP OFO Reporting data. Notes: *FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025 represent, respectively, 9 months, 12 months, and 2 months of data. Data include CBP One app appointments at the Southwest Border land POEs. Numbers reflect appointments processed, not unique individuals with appointments. |
Inception of CHNV Parole Processes
As another part of its border management strategy, the Biden Administration created parole processes for Venezuelan nationals in October 2022, and for Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan nationals in January 2023 (CHNV parole). The CHNV parole programs vetted applicants in advance of arrival and required a U.S.-based financial sponsor to apply for and agree to provide financial support to the alien, who, if approved, received travel authorization to fly to a U.S. interior air POE to apply for parole. Roughly 532,000 nationals from the four countries were granted parole for two years under CHNV (Figure 3).
|
Source: OHSS analysis of OFO data. Notes: *FY2025 represents only October and November 2024. |
Replacing CBP One with CBP Home
On January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration terminated the use of CBP One for scheduling advance appointments for migrants seeking humanitarian protection. CBP One's other functions remain available after CBP Home was introduced, in addition to the new Intent to Depart function.
Parole Terminations and the Intent to Depart Feature on CBP Home
On March 25, 2025, the Trump Administration terminated the CHNV parole processes and related work authorization. A challenge to the Administration's decision in a federal district court resulted in a ruling temporarily barring the government from implementing the decision; however, the Supreme Court stayed the lower court's ruling, allowing the Trump Administration to end this parole process. On April 11, 2025, the Administration terminated CBP One parole for people who had entered the United States with CBP One appointments, and this executive order was also the subject of litigation. That same month, DHS reportedly notified some CBP One and CHNV parolees that their parole period was ending. The notice stated, "It is time for you to leave the United States." It continued, "DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole immediately." It encouraged recipients to leave the country voluntarily using the Intent to Depart function.
DHS Incentives to Depart Voluntarily
In addition to CBP One applicants and CHNV beneficiaries, DHS encourages all persons without lawful status to depart voluntarily using CBP Home. The May 5, 2025, DHS announcement publicizing travel assistance and $1,000 stipends to those who confirm their completed departure and return through CBP Home states that such incentives offer significant savings for taxpayers compared to the agency's reported average $17,121 cost to arrest, detain, and remove someone lacking legal status. DHS also notes that those who use the app and "pass vetting" will be "temporarily deprioritized for detention or enforcement action" prior to their scheduled departure. DHS recently reported the first voluntary charter flight of foreign nationals returning home under Project Homecoming.
Other Incentives and Consequences
DHS has outlined other incentives for aliens to use CBP Home to leave the country. It has noted that ICE may agree to dismiss removal proceedings for aliens who prove they have departed voluntarily, allowing them to avoid receiving a final order of removal, potential detention and removal by DHS, and years-long or even permanent bars to U.S. reentry under U.S. law. The proclamation lists multiple consequences for remaining unlawfully including possible fines (DHS recently announced forgiveness of fines for those who use the app to depart), wage garnishment, property confiscation, and criminal imprisonment. Some counter that aliens who leave would relinquish their ability to apply for any relief or protection that may have been granted by an immigration judge if they were in removal proceedings. The CBP Home page includes instructions on how to use the app, and an FAQ.