The CBP Home App Helped Repatriate 64 Illegal Aliens on the First 'Project Homecoming' Flight

Houston saw the first flight of "Project Homecoming." President Donald Trump signed the proclamation for Project Homecoming on May 9, which allows illegal aliens to self-deport with government assistance, an added financial incentive, and the ability to apply for legal entry back to the United States at another time. With coordination through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on Monday, it oversaw 64 persons who had entered the country illegally repatriated back to their home countries.

The first immigrants who agreed to self-deport and accept a $1,000 stipend left on a chartered flight out of the United States on Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The flight took 64 nationals -- 26 from Colombia and 38 from Honduras -- back home in "Project Homecoming." They boarded a charter bus and then a World Atlantic Airlines charter that left Houston at 9:30 a.m. CDT. Children were given toys and everyone received a lunch bag.
"This was a voluntary charter flight, not an ICE enforcement operation," DHS said in a news release, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"All participants were offered the same benefits as any illegal alien who self-deports using the CBP Home App. They received travel assistance, a $1,000 stipend, and preserved the possibility they could one day return to the United States legally.

Today, DHS conducted the first Project Homecoming charter flight from Houston, TX, to Honduras and Colombia, bringing 64 participants who opted to self-deport back to their home countries.

All participants were offered the same benefits as any illegal alien who self-deports… pic.twitter.com/r0uAFejUVh
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 19, 2025

Today, DHS conducted the first Project Homecoming charter flight from Houston, TX, to Honduras and Colombia, bringing 64 participants who opted to self-deport back to their home countries.
All participants were offered the same benefits as any illegal alien who self-deports using the CBP Home App. They received travel assistance, a $1,000 stipend, and preserved the possibility they could one day return to the United States legally.

As RedState reported in early May, the Trump administration repurposed the CBP One app used by the Biden administration to allow illegal immigrants to schedule an appointment to claim asylum (how ridiculous is that?) at U.S. ports of entry, in order to cross the border in the states. DHS changed the name of the app to CBP Home and reprogrammed it to allow illegal aliens to schedule a different appointment: the date they would self-deport. This would put them in line to receive a stipend once it is confirmed they are now back in their home country.

According to a DHS spokesperson, this would not only save the taxpayer money, but preserve law enforcement resources for worst cases of illegal entrenchment in the country.

Per Fox News' Bill Melugin:

DHS tells @FoxNews this will save American taxpayers 70%, as it currently costs DHS, on average, over $17,000 to arrest, detain, and deport someone from the U.S., while paying for self-removal flights & the stipend is projected to cost just $4,500, and will be safer for ICE and preserve their resources. Illegal aliens must register on the CBP Home app and file their notice to leave the US in order to receive the financial assistance, and the stipend will only be paid once the alien is confirmed to have left the United States. DHS tells us any aliens who register to self deport will be immediately de-prioritized for ICE arrest and will maintain the ability to return to the U.S. legally in the future. DHS says they have already successfully tested out the financial assistance, recently paying for an illegal alien to fly back to Honduras from Chicago, with more tickets booked this week.

This multi-pronged approach by the Trump administration is not only keeping the Democrats, adversarial judges, and so-called immigrant activists on their heels, but it is utilizing, as DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Border Czar Tom Homan, and other cabinet members have said, "All the tools in the toolbox." A flight back is infinitely more comfortable than how some of them came across the border, and in many of these countries to which the aliens are being repatriated, $1,000 is an excellent assist to a new life. Illegal aliens still in the country have 60 days from the date of the proclamation to take the U.S. up on the offer, so the offer has an expiration date before the hammer of ICE enforcement falls. While sixty-four seems like a drop, it's part of the shock and awe strategy being employed that is helping to secure our homeland, and shut down the illegal influx and human trafficking that was rampant less than a year ago.