No, 2.2 Million People Did Not Self-Deport Through a Government App — The Real Number Is Far Lower

A widely shared claim holds that roughly 2.2 million people voluntarily left the United States through a government smartphone app program. That figure is not supported by any verified data. The real number of completed departures through the program is a fraction of that — in the thousands, not millions.

The program in question is real. The Trump administration launched a self-deportation feature through the CBP Home app in early 2025, as confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security. The idea was that undocumented immigrants could use the app to arrange voluntary departure. DHS promoted the program and reported enrollment activity — but confirmed departures through it numbered in the low tens of thousands at most, nowhere near 2.2 million.

Reuters and CBS News both reported that the program had limited uptake. PolitiFact flagged a key problem driving the inflated number: large figures tied to this program often mix together app downloads, registrations, and actual completed departures. Those are very different things. Downloading an app is not the same as leaving the country.

To put 2.2 million in context, the Migration Policy Institute notes that voluntary departure programs in U.S. history have always achieved modest numbers. A figure of 2.2 million would be entirely unprecedented — and no credible government or independent source has confirmed anything close to it for this specific program.

This kind of claim spreads because immigration statistics are genuinely hard for most people to verify independently. A large, confident-sounding number gets shared quickly, especially when it seems to confirm what someone already believes — either that enforcement is working or that it is being exaggerated. The fix is simple: always ask whether a number reflects sign-ups or actual outcomes.