The Department of Homeland Security's voluntary departure program, branded as "Project Homecoming," has enrolled approximately 72,000 immigrants since its launch, according to internal documents reviewed exclusively by CNN. The program offers stipends of up to $2,600 and free flights to immigrants willing to return to their home countries. President Trump has described it as a key tool of his immigration agenda alongside traditional enforcement.

CNN's reporting, confirmed in part by the Bush Center's monthly immigration tracker, found that of the 72,000 participants, more than 38,000 had already voluntarily left the United States, with roughly 28,600 others in "various stages awaiting departure." However, CNN's review of the internal DHS document found that 37,281 of those who self-deported through the program were already in ICE detention when they enrolled — meaning the "voluntary" nature of their departure is disputed by immigration attorneys.

DHS defended the program as providing "a clear and dignified pathway to return to their home countries voluntarily, reducing the need for detention and enforcement actions." The department separately told Congress that an estimated 2.2 million immigrants have self-deported since January 2025 — a figure that encompasses people who left outside the formal Project Homecoming framework and is disputed by immigration researchers cited by NBC News.

Conservative commentators cited by Fox News and the Washington Examiner praised Project Homecoming as a cost-effective alternative to forced deportation, noting that each voluntary departure costs the government a fraction of the legal and logistical expense of a contested removal. Immigration attorneys cited by NPR and the American Immigration Council argued that offering a small cash incentive to people already in detention, who face deportation regardless, does not constitute genuine voluntariness and may obscure the coercive nature of mass enforcement.