Remember when the media laughed at the idea of illegal immigrants self-deporting? When Mitt Romney even hinted at the concept in 2012, the press treated it like the punchline to a bad joke. Fast-forward to 2025, and under President Donald J. Trump’s bold and unapologetic leadership, that “crazy idea” has become cold, hard reality — and it’s sending illegal aliens packing without taxpayers footing the bill.
In sanctuary strongholds like California and Democrat-run states across the country, illegal immigrants are quietly making an exit — not because they’re being dragged away in handcuffs, but because they see the writing on the wall. Trump’s America is no longer open for illegal business, and the message is getting through loud and clear.
The Los Angeles Times and Atlanta Journal-Constitution — not exactly MAGA news outlets — have both confirmed what patriotic Americans have suspected all along: illegal aliens are self-deporting in droves. Some are younger migrants who haven’t yet started families in the U.S. Others, like a woman who lived illegally in California for over 30 years, are finally packing up and heading home. Why? Because they’re realizing that under Trump, the days of skating by are over.
In California — a state that’s bent over backward to shield illegal aliens from federal law — immigration “advocates” are now being flooded with questions about how to leave the country voluntarily. You know things are bad for the open borders crowd when even California can’t keep illegals comfortable enough to stay. One woman told reporters that after two decades of living illegally in the Inland Empire, she and her husband are headed back to Mexico “by Christmas.” Another, who has spent 30 years in the U.S., said she’s going back to Michoacán. It’s not a coincidence. It’s the Trump effect.
And it’s not just anecdotal. The Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Kristi Noem has launched a full-blown nationwide ad campaign encouraging illegal aliens to self-deport. No more coddling. No more loopholes. No more taxpayer-funded freebies. As Noem bluntly put it: “President Trump and I have a clear message to those in our country illegally: LEAVE NOW. If you do not self-deport, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and deport you.”
That’s not “mean.” That’s what leadership looks like.
The administration has even retooled Joe Biden’s disastrous CBP One mobile app — which was previously used to usher in hundreds of thousands of illegal border-crossers — into a self-deportation tool. In Biden’s America, the app was a digital welcome mat. In Trump’s America, it’s a one-way ticket out.
This is the kind of smart, efficient, America-first immigration policy that the ruling class said was “impossible.” It turns out it was only impossible for cowards and globalist stooges. President Trump is doing what no president since Eisenhower had the backbone to do: enforce our laws, protect our borders, and put Americans first.
Make no mistake — this isn’t just about deporting gang members and violent felons (though Trump’s team is doing that in record numbers too). It’s about restoring a basic principle of sovereignty: if you come here illegally, you don’t get to stay. Period.
Even better, by encouraging self-deportation, Trump’s policies reduce the strain on law enforcement, detention centers, and the court system. It’s a win for the rule of law and a win for the American taxpayer.
Of course, the open-borders lobby is furious. They’re losing their grip. Their sanctuary cities are bleeding resources, crime is spiking, and now even the people they’ve spent decades defending are throwing in the towel. That’s what happens when reality smacks liberal utopianism in the face.
President Trump’s self-deportation campaign is a masterclass in common sense — and it’s working. The American people should be proud. And the rest of the world? They’d better take notes.
