How do DHS and independent researchers define and count 'self‑deportations' versus formal deportations?
Executive summary
DHS treats “self‑deportation” as voluntary departure facilitated and recorded through programs like CBP Home/Project Homecoming and counts participants who enroll and confirm departure in its systems as self‑deportations [1] [2] [3]. Independent researchers and legal observers, however, emphasize that “self‑deportation” is not a formal statutory term, distinguish it from court‑ordered removals and voluntary departure orders, and warn that counting methods vary — some tallies reflect program participants while others count only formal removal orders or flights [4] [5] [6].
1. How DHS defines and records a “self‑deportation”
DHS defines self‑deportation operationally: an individual who leaves the United States without undergoing traditional ICE arrest/detention and who uses DHS tools (notably the CBP Home app) or DHS‑organized repatriation flights to coordinate and confirm departure is treated as a voluntary self‑deportation and is eligible for program incentives such as travel assistance and stipends [1] [2] [3]. The department’s public messaging frames this as a dignified alternative to enforcement and explicitly distinguishes it from formal ICE removal actions [2], and DHS counts participants by enrollment and confirmed departures through those program mechanisms [7] [4].
2. What independent researchers and legal analysts say about the term
Scholars and legal clinics stress that “self‑deportation” has no codified meaning in the Immigration and Nationality Act and is more a policy label than a legal category; the closest formal concepts are voluntary departure and stipulated removal, both of which involve administrative or judicial processes distinct from leaving on one’s own [5] [6] [8]. Migration Policy and other analysts frame Project Homecoming as a policy initiative — a mix of carrots (payments, flights) and communications — rather than a change to statutory removal categories, and caution that program tallies therefore reflect administrative program use, not formal removal orders [4].
3. How formal deportations are defined and counted
Formal deportations or removals are legal acts that result from DHS‑initiated removal proceedings or ICE enforcement that culminate in an order of removal issued by an immigration judge or DHS, and they are recorded in enforcement databases as removals — typically involving Notices to Appear, detention, and transport organized by the government [8] [9]. Independent reporting contrasts the high per‑person cost of these forcible removals with DHS’s estimates for voluntary departures, and notes that formal deportation counts follow a different evidentiary trail (court orders, detention logs, transport manifests) than voluntary self‑departure programs [4] [7].
4. Counting problems and mismatches between datasets
Because DHS counts program participants who register and confirm departure via CBP Home or board government‑arranged flights, those figures can be presented as “self‑deportations” even though they are not removal orders; independent journalists and researchers caution that using those program tallies to claim a reduction in formal removals conflates two different phenomena and can overstate enforcement success [7] [4]. Conversely, legal observers point out that voluntary departure orders issued by judges are a separate legal route that avoids a removal on record and will be counted differently in immigration court statistics versus CBP/ICE program tallies [8] [6].
5. Legal and practical consequences that complicate counting
Experts emphasize that leaving voluntarily — whether through an informal self‑departure or a formal voluntary departure order — has distinct legal consequences: informal self‑departure may not erase unlawful presence or ensure lawful reentry, and accepting program incentives does not create statutory protections; these legal nuances mean that a “count” of people who left under a DHS campaign does not resolve their immigration status nor equate to the legal outcome of a formal removal order [5] [10] [11]. Critics also highlight incentives and messaging — including cash and flights — that can influence who is counted and whether departures are truly voluntary or pressured by enforcement rhetoric [7] [4].
6. Bottom line for interpreting statistics
When DHS reports “self‑deportations,” it is primarily reporting program enrollments and confirmed departures through administrative channels like CBP Home and government flights; independent researchers and legal analysts insist on parsing those numbers from formal removal statistics because the legal definitions, records, and consequences differ markedly, and because program tallies can be used rhetorically to suggest enforcement gains that court‑based removal data do not support [1] [2] [4] [7]. Where source documents do not provide a reconciled methodology, caution is warranted: program counts are administrative activity metrics, not the same thing as an order of removal recorded in immigration court or ICE removal databases [8] [5].