Trump’s Two-Track Immigration Strategy Sees Surge in Self-Deportations, Wage Gains

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – President Donald Trump’s administration is seeing early success with its aggressive two-track strategy to reduce the unauthorized population in the United States — not only through arrests and deportations but by encouraging illegal migrants to leave voluntarily.

While much public attention has focused on the ramped-up enforcement operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the administration’s complementary self-deportation initiative appears to be quietly transforming the immigration landscape. The program offers a mix of registration requirements, financial incentives, and outreach that officials say is cheaper and more effective than mass physical deportations.

According to data cited by the Center for Immigration Studies, the unauthorized population surged to an estimated 15.4 million during the Biden years — a 50% increase — driven by lax enforcement and policies under President Joe Biden and former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Trump campaigned on reversing that trend, promising tighter border security and a return to the rule of law.

Now back in office, Trump, alongside DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and “border czar” Tom Homan, has launched a two-pronged approach: targeting criminal aliens for deportation under a “worst first” policy while promoting self-removal. From Inauguration Day, Trump ordered DHS to require all non-citizens to register their presence, with penalties for failure to comply. DHS followed up with a public awareness campaign urging illegal migrants to leave voluntarily, offering a $1,000 stipend to those who depart without government intervention — a fraction of the $17,100 average cost of formal deportation.

A key part of this push is the rebranding of the Biden-era CBP One app into “CBP Home,” which lets migrants notify authorities of their intent to exit the country.

Reports suggest the strategy is having a measurable impact. One estimate points to a decline of 773,000 in the foreign-born population during the first four months of Trump’s second term. The Washington Post noted a million foreign-born workers have left the labor force since March — a shift that has driven up average hourly wages to $36.24 in May, outpacing inflation and boosting worker spending power.

Experts say this mirrors historical precedents. In 1954, President Eisenhower’s Operation Wetback saw nearly 10 migrants leave voluntarily for every one forcibly removed. Similarly, a post-9/11 registration drive led many to self-deport rather than face enforcement.

With DHS focused on enforcing existing laws and holding unscrupulous employers accountable, officials believe they can significantly reduce the unauthorized population without relying solely on costly mass deportations. Early indicators suggest many migrants are indeed choosing to leave on their own.

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