Homeland Security Launches New Self-Deportation App

The CBP Home app would give illegal immigrants the ability to ‘leave now and self deport,’ officials said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks to staff for the first time at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) headquarters in Washington on Jan. 28, 2025. Manuel Balce Ceneta/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rolled out a new app on Monday that it said would facilitate self-deportation for illegal immigrants.

On the first day of his presidency, President Donald Trump moved to suspend the CBP One app, with Trump administration officials saying it was used to facilitate illegal immigration into the United States.

On Monday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced the new app on the social media platform X. She said the CBP One app was used by the previous administration to “allow more than 1 million aliens to illegally enter the United States.”

“With the launching of the CBP Home App, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system,” Noem said. “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. If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return.”

On Jan. 20, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) wrote on its website that the CBP One was no longer available for illegal immigrants to request asylum or appointments before immigration judges. The controversial app was released in 2020 and expanded in early 2021. CBP said in January that “existing appointments have been canceled.”

Republicans had criticized the program, saying it facilitated mass migration to the United States and did not adequately vet individuals who entered. In March 2024, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) said that CBP One was allegedly set up “specifically to implement a purposeful and determined open-borders agenda” and allowed inadmissible individuals from countries like Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela to participate.

During his campaign and since taking office, Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of illegal immigrants while bolstering security along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Late last month, DHS said it’s creating a registry of all people who are in the United States illegally, and those who don’t self-report could face fines or prosecution.

Everyone who is in the United States illegally must register, give fingerprints, and provide an address, DHS said in a statement. It cited a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act as justification for the registration process, which would apply to anyone 14 and older.

“An alien’s failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both,” the DHS statement said. “For decades, this law has been ignored—not anymore.”

The agency said that “compelling mass self-deportation is a safer path for aliens and law enforcement, and saves U.S. taxpayer dollars, in addition to conserving valuable” federal resources. Illegal immigrants in the United States were directed to register at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website.

Trump signed an executive order in February aimed at ending “taxpayer subsidization of open borders,” although it did not go into specifics about what benefits would be cut.

The order directed agencies to identify any federal programs that allow “illegal aliens to obtain any cash or non-cash public benefit, and, consistent with applicable law, take all appropriate actions to align such programs with the purposes of this order and the requirements of applicable Federal law,” according to the White House.

Trump signed 10 executive orders on immigration during his first day in office. One included ending automatic citizenship for people born in the United States. The birthright citizenship order has been temporarily halted in court.

The Epoch Times contacted DHS for additional comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.