Leaked data shows many migrants recruited for Trump’s “voluntary” deportations while already detained

A review of internal data shows that nearly half of the individuals who enrolled in the Trump administration’s voluntary self-deportation initiative were approached after being placed in ICE detention. The effort, known as Project Homecoming, is administered by Salus Worldwide Solutions, which pays participants $2,600 plus a one-way flight home. To date, 132,000 migrants have left the United States under the program, while a further 70,000 are queued.

Salus case managers operate in about 40 detention facilities, and the contractor claims the scheme shortens detention periods from months to days. Representative Bennie Thompson has written to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding an immediate halt to the contract, which received a $200 million boost in May and is now being re-competed. A DHS spokesperson defended the initiative as a cornerstone of immigration enforcement but declined further comment pending the award process.