By Audrey Ash, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump has heralded a $915 million incentive program and app as key tools to get undocumented immigrants to voluntarily leave the country, part of a broader push his administration credits with getting 2.2 million people to “self-deport.”

But a new document shared internally within DHS and reviewed by CNN shows that the program has helped 72,000 leave the US as of this month.

The majority who signed up were already in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, the document shows.

Homeland Security officials have not publicly released detailed data on how many people have left the US under the new program, which the administration argues saves money by slashing the cost of deportations. The plan, called Project Homecoming, offers stipends of up to $2,600 and free flights to immigrants to return home. Many others have left on their own without using the app, the agency said in a statement.

“DHS has been consistently clear that those who have used the CBP Home app and utilized Project Homecoming are but a fraction of the those who have voluntarily left the country because illegal aliens know President Trump is enforcing our immigration laws,” said a DHS spokesperson in a statement, adding that each self-deportation with incentives costs thousands less than a traditional deportation.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Some experts questioned the efficacy of the program, arguing that many of those who have chosen to leave would have likely done so anyway without the government’s intervention.

“They’re trying to claim credit for those people who are leaving but it’s not obvious to me that those people would’ve stayed in the absence of this financial incentive,” said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute.

It’s unclear what metric DHS has used to claim that 2.2 million people have self-deported as of January. That number likely includes thousands who have left voluntarily without engaging with Project Homecoming – either because they didn’t want to notify the government of their movements or because they were unaware of the program.

While the financial incentives are new, voluntary departure, which allows noncitizens to leave the country without the penalties associated with a removal order, already existed as a legal option under previous administrations.

More than 35,000 immigration court cases have ended in “voluntary departure” for the fiscal year of 2025, up from around 9,000 the previous fiscal year, according to data from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. It’s unclear how many of the people involved in those 35,000 cases used Project Homecoming.

“Every year, there’s hundreds of thousands of people who leave the United States on their own, voluntarily, for various reasons,” Bier said. “Before this app, that was a zero cost to the government. Nothing was being expended on people leaving the country.”

‘Book your free flight right now’

When the White House announced Project Homecoming last May, Trump hailed it as a powerful new tool. “To all illegal aliens: book your free flight right now,” he urged in a video posted to Truth Social.

The administration took to the airwaves in multimillion-dollar ad campaigns to encourage anyone in the US illegally to leave and launched a social media blitz that’s included an array of posters marketing free flights home. “Home is just a few clicks away!” said a recent X post by DHS.

Initially, the program offered immigrants a $1,000 stipend to be paid after confirmation through the ap

Por Eric Bradner, CNN

Más de un tercio de los agentes de seguridad del Aeropuerto Internacional Hartsfield-Jackson de Atlanta no se presentaron a trabajar el martes, según informó el director general del aeropuerto, lo que provocó que los pasajeros tuvieran que esperar en cola hasta dos horas.

Esta semana se han formado largas colas en diferentes aeropuertos, ya que los agentes de la Administración de Seguridad del Transporte trabajaron sin remuneración durante la ajetreada temporada de viajes de las vacaciones de primavera.

El viernes, más de la mitad de los empleados de la TSA (Administración de Seguridad del Transporte) no se presentaron a trabajar en el Aeropuerto Internacional William P. Hobby de Houston.

Se encuentran entre los 61.000 empleados gubernamentales del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional que están atrapados en medio del estancamiento en el que se encuentra el Congreso respecto a la financiación de la agencia.

“Los viajeros se han portado muy bien”, dijo Aaron Barker, presidente local del sindicato American Federation of Government Employees en Atlanta. “Lo sorprendente, sin embargo, es que mucha gente desconoce que estamos en medio de un cierre de Gobierno”.

Según explicó, los empleados se enfrentan a “avisos de desalojo, embargos de vehículos, refrigeradores vacíos y cuentas bancarias en descubierto”, mientras que los viajeros a los que atienden quizás ni siquiera se den cuenta de las dificultades.

Según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS), al menos 366 agentes de seguridad del transporte han dimitido desde el inicio del último cierre de Gobierno.

Estos trabajadores han sufrido tres interrupciones en la financiación que han provocado la falta de pago de sus salarios en los últimos seis meses, según señaló el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) en un comunicado de prensa el martes.

A finales del año pasado, el cierre de Gobierno más largo de la historia de Estados Unidos terminó después de que empleados federales, incluidos agentes de la TSA y controladores de tráfico aéreo de la Administración Federal de Aviación, se quedaran sin sueldo durante 43 días. Algunos dejaron de ir a trabajar para ganarse la vida en otros lugares, lo que provocó interrupciones en los viajes.

Los trabajadores recibieron sus salarios atrasados ​​días después de que terminara el cierre, pero a algunos les tomó hasta febrero saldar sus deudas, según informó AFGE a CNN.

A finales de enero se produjo otro breve cierre que duró solo unos días antes de que el Congreso financiara al departamento durante dos semanas. Ese dinero se agotó a mediados de febrero y los empleados del DHS volvieron a quedarse sin cobrar.

“He hablado con agentes que no pueden costear los copagos de los tratamientos contra el cáncer o las consultas médicas de sus hijos enfermos”, dijo Barker.

Algunos aeropuertos han comenzado a pedir a los viajeros que ayuden a los agentes de la TSA. El Aeropuerto Internacional de Denver, el Aeropuerto Internacional de Seattle-Tacoma y el Aeropuerto Internacional Harry Reid en Las Vegas han solicitado donaciones de artículos, incluyendo tarjetas de regalo para supermercados y gasolina, alimentos no perecederos, productos de higiene y artículos para bebés.

Según un

Por CNN en Español

Así viven los ecuatorianos las medidas de Noboa contra el crimen. Venezuela se corona campeona del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol 2026. ¿Qué implican las medidas económicas anunciadas por Cuba? Esto es lo que debes saber para comenzar el día. Primero la verdad.

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Un alto funcionario de inteligencia estadounidense, nombrado por el presidente Donald Trump, anunció abruptamente el martes que abandona su cargo, citando sus reparos respecto a la guerra de su país con Irán. “No puedo, con la conciencia tranquila, apoyar la guerra en curso en Irán. Irán no representaba ninguna amenaza inminente para nuestra nación”, escribió Joe Kent, quien se desempeñaba como director del Centro Nacional de Contraterrorismo, en una publicación en X.

• La importancia de la renuncia del designado de Trump Joe Kent por la guerra con Irán. Análisis
• Ali Larijani era un “auténtico miembro” del régimen iraní y su rostro público. Su muerte podría prolongar la guerra
• La guerra con Irán pone a prueba al trumpismo. Análisis

La selección de béisbol de Venezuela escribió una de las páginas más importantes de su historia al ganarle a su similar de Estados Unidos y coronarse campeona del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol 2026. Es la primera vez que Venezuela logra este título, en lo que también fue su primera vez disputando el partido decisivo. Así fue el encuentro.

• Así celebró Venezuela su título del Clásico Mundial de Béisbol
• Los países que más veces han ganado el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol

Ecuador vive entre alivio e incertidumbre tras el toque de queda y la militarización ordenados por Daniel Noboa para frenar la violencia. Algunos ciudadanos sienten mayor seguridad, pero otros temen que las medidas sean temporales frente al poder del crimen organizado.

• Noboa responde a acusaciones de Petro sobre una supuesta bomba lanzada a territorio colombiano

Cuba atraviesa una de las peores crisis de su historia reciente y el Gobierno del presidente Miguel Díaz-Canel anunció una serie de medidas con las que busca atraer inversión extranjera e impulsar la economía de la isla. Sin embargo, analistas consultados dudan de que los cambios vayan a tener un efecto profundo, aun cuando algunos de ellos los toman como un primer paso positivo p

By Bryan Mena, CNN

Washington (CNN) — The US-Israeli war with Iran, now stretching into its third week, is dashing hopes that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates at all this year.

The war has sparked the biggest disruption to oil supply in history, sending energy prices higher and threatening to jack up the cost of nearly everything Americans buy. At the same, investors and Fed officials are still waiting to see the full effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on inflation.

Already, the central bank forecasts only one quarter-point rate cut this year — and new projections are set to be released Wednesday. But as the war drags on, any rate cut is likely delayed further.

“While the Fed typically looks through oil shocks, we’ll be lucky to get even one rate cut this year,” Rick Gardner, chief investment officer at RGA Investments, wrote in a recent analyst note. “And if it does come, it would likely be towards the end of the year when there is a new Fed Chair and when there is more data to assess on the inflation and jobs front.”

In January, Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to lead the central bank after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s tenure ends in May. If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh is expected to argue for lower borrowing costs. But the war with Iran has likely upended that strategy.

After this week’s meeting, Powell technically has just one more as chair. However, he could remain in that role if Republican lawmakers aren’t able to get Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina on board with nomination of the next chair.

Tillis has said he intends to block all Fed nominations unless the Trump administration drops its investigation of Powell’s handling of the Fed’s headquarters renovation.

Muddling the picture

Last April, Trump rolled out a series of punishing tariffs on all of America’s trading partners. Many economists believed the levies would push up costs for American businesses and individuals. While inflation has ticked up for many imported items since the tariffs were implemented, lower energy costs largely balanced out much of that increase.

The war with Iran looks set to erase that buffer.

Even though the Supreme Court in January struck down the bulk of those tariffs, Trump quickly introduced a new, global 15% duty on all imported goods into the United States.

Several Fed officials, including Powell, have said Trump’s tariffs will ultimately result in just a one-time increase in the price level. Now, central bank policymakers must also consider how that increase will intertwine with the economic effects of the conflict in the Middle East.

“We already had these big question marks,” Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told The Wall Street Journal in a March 6 interview, explaining how the oil crisis is now making it difficult to discern tariff inflation.

“It does dovetail energy prices with what’s going to happen with tariffs,” he said.

The war’s economic impact depends largely on the conflict’s breadth and duration. Experts say the disruption to the global energy market has already been greater than anything seen in modern history, including the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, which led to a yearslong oil crisis in the United States. There’s also little sign of

CNN, KVVU, : KMGH, FOX NEWS

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

Washington, DC (CNN) — More than a third of the security screeners at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t show up to work Tuesday, the airport’s general manager said, causing passengers to have to wait in line for up to two hours.

Long lines have stretched through different airports this week as Transportation Security Administration officers worked without pay during the busy spring break travel season.

On Friday, more than half of TSA employees called out at Houston’s William P. Hobby International Airport.

They are among the 61,000 government employees in the Department of Homeland Security caught in the middle as Congress remains locked in a stalemate over funding the agency.

“The traveling public has been really nice,” said Aaron Barker, the local American Federation of Government Employees union president for Atlanta. “What is shocking, though, is a lot of people are unaware that we are in a government shutdown.”

Employees are dealing with “eviction notices, vehicle repossessions, empty refrigerators and overdrawn bank accounts,” he said, while the travelers they serve may not even realize the hardship.

At least 366 transportation security officers have quit since the start of the most recent shutdown, according to DHS.

What workers are dealing with

These workers have been through three lapses in funding resulting in missed pay over the past six months, DHS noted in a news release Tuesday.

Late last year, the longest government shutdown in US history ended after federal workers, including TSA officers and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers, went without pay for 43 days. Some stopped showing up to their jobs to make ends meet elsewhere, disrupting travel.

The workers received their back pay days after the shutdown ended, but for some it took until February to pay off debts, AFGE told CNN.

A brief shutdown happened again in late January and lasted only a few days before Congress funded the department for two weeks. That money ran out in mid-February and DHS employees started missing paychecks again.

“I’ve heard from officers who cannot afford copayments for cancer treatments or office visits for their sick children,” Barker said.

Some airports have started asking travelers to assist the TSA officers. Denver International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas have requested donations of items, including grocery and gas gift cards,