Politics
NEW: Trump’s ‘Self-Deportation’ Program Drives Wage Growth: ‘More Successful Than Anyone Imagined’
President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has ushered in sweeping immigration changes, and the results are already shaking up the labor market. Nearly a million illegal immigrants have reportedly left the country voluntarily in recent months under a revamped “self-deportation” initiative—a cornerstone of Executive Order 14159, signed on Trump’s first day back in office.
The program, part of Trump’s broader plan to restore law and order at the southern border, is now being hailed as a quiet victory not only for immigration enforcement but also for American workers.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, the unauthorized immigrant population swelled to over 15 million under former President Biden, largely due to what critics say was a blatant disregard for federal detention and border security laws. In contrast, Trump has reversed Biden-era policies and empowered DHS and ICE with aggressive new tools—ranging from enhanced expedited removal authority to renewed cooperation with private detention facilities.
While much of the media attention has focused on ICE raids and criminal deportations, a lesser-known piece of the strategy has made the biggest splash: encouraging unlawful migrants to leave the country voluntarily.
“While ICE arrests and deportations have grabbed headlines, President Trump is also running a separate but complementary ‘mass deportation’ program — one that encourages aliens here unlawfully to go home voluntarily,” Andrew Arthur wrote in a New York Post opinion piece.
“And if reports are correct, that plan is more successful than anyone could have imagined. Based on government data, my organization, the Center for Immigration Studies, has conservatively estimated there are about 15.4 million illegal aliens in the United States, a 50% increase over the four tumultuous years of the Biden administration,” he explained.
The Trump administration’s approach includes a registration mandate for all non-citizens, a public awareness campaign encouraging voluntary departure, and even a financial stipend of $1,000 for those who self-deport, compared to the $17,000 it costs taxpayers to forcibly remove someone. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also changed the Biden-era CBP One app as “CBP Home,” allowing migrants to notify officials of their intent to exit the country.
And they are leaving—fast.
Trump’s team, led by “border czar” Tom Homan and Secretary Noem, has stressed the importance of combining enforcement with incentives. While criminal aliens are being targeted aggressively under the administration’s “worst first” strategy, the voluntary component has proven cheaper, faster, and arguably more impactful.
As reported the by The Washington Post, the U.S. economy added 139,000 jobs in May, surpassing economists’ forecasts and signaling steady strength in the labor market—even as businesses grow more cautious. According to the Labor Department’s report released Friday, the unemployment rate held firm at 4.2 percent, remaining near historic lows.
May’s numbers edged past projections of 125,000 new jobs and closely mirrored April’s revised total, suggesting a labor market that continues to hold up under pressure. While some employers are slowing down hiring due to economic uncertainty, job creation remains consistent, even as consumer spending cools.
Whether driven by fear of enforcement, financial opportunity, or the promise of returning legally one day, illegal immigrants are heeding the message. For American workers, especially those in blue-collar jobs long undercut by low-wage competition, the impact is already being felt—and appreciated.
