Drawn by the promise of a free flight back to her native Venezuela, Yessica Torres downloaded the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Home app, believing it would cover the plane tickets for Torres and her family.<\/p>\n
But after almost a year of waiting for CBP to arrange their travel, Torres now feels stuck in a country that denied her family asylum and whose president has campaigned for their departure. She does not have a passport \u2014 the last Venezuelan consulate in the U.S shuttered years ago \u2014 and the CBP Home app, which promised to fly her back as part of a program called \u201cProject Homecoming,\u201d has yet to follow through on its proclamation of cost-free travel and a monetary exit bonus.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere shouldn\u2019t be so much paperwork, so many permits to leave,\u201d said Torres, 34, who is staying in a shared apartment in Chicago with her partner and two young children. \u201cIf that\u2019s what they want \u2014 that we leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Torres is one of countless Venezuelan immigrants who want to return to their home country, but have been unable to because of the broken diplomatic ties and bureaucratic hurdles between the two countries. Currently, there are no direct flights from the U.S. to Venezuela, and Venezuelan passports and other vital travel documents are nearly impossible to obtain after the countries broke off diplomatic relations with each other in 2019.<\/p>\n
Some Venezuelans have found themselves in the position of making the same harrowing trek they endured to get to the U.S. \u2014 traveling across multiple countries, sometimes through dangerous territories \u2014 to return home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey left the country not looking for anything other than stability and peace,\u201d said Illinois Venezuelan Alliance vice president of the board Jose Morales. Now, he said, they are returning back, in part, \u201cbecause of the persecution by this government.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-US-VENEZ-RETURN.jpg\")
A boat of migrants traveling from Panama to Colombia, part of their reverse migration back to Venezuela, May 6, 2025. Some Venezuelans willing to self-deport are finding the process isn’t so simple, because their passports were confiscated upon their arrival in the United States, and have not been returned. (Federico Rios\/The New York Times)<\/p>\n
To be sure, since the Trump administration\u2019s ouster of then-President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> in early January, an easier pathway could be on the horizon. Last month, the U.S. formally reopened its embassy in Caracas \u2014 though resumption of consular services, where Americans and Venezuelans go for passport and visa services, will take time, according to the State Department. And American Airlines announced this week that flights from Miami to Caracas are expected to resume as soon as April 30 once all government and security checks are approved.<\/p>\n But for Venezuelans who have spent the past year watching federal immigration agents roughly detain their countrymen \u2014 active asylum cases or not \u2014 a safe way out of the U.S. can\u2019t come soon enough.<\/p>\n \u201cThe American Embassy is open in Venezuela but the Venezuelan Embassy is still not open in Washington,\u201d Morales said. \u201cAnd consulates are not still open specifically in Chicago \u2026 that means we are in exactly the same position.\u201d<\/p>\n So until then, Venezuelans in Chicago are trying to make their own way home.<\/p>\n Safe passage<\/p>\n In a small office next to a hair salon on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Danilo Sansonetti, a Venezuelan native, answered phones and welcomed clients in person on a recent Thursday afternoon. A small Venezuelan flag sat on his desk, while a large U.S. flag stood behind him.<\/p>\n Danilo Sansonetti works out of small space inside a hair salon on Chicago\u2019s Northwest Side where, among other duties, he assists Venezuelans interested in obtaining a salvoconducto and assists others in navigating the CBP app to arrange for voluntary self-deportation, April 9, 2026. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n A person walks past Irma\u2019s Salon on Chicago\u2019s Northwest Side, April 9, 2026. Danilo Sansonetti works out of small space inside the salon where, among other duties, he assists Venezuelans interested in obtaining a salvoconducto and assists others in navigating the CBP app to arrange for voluntary self-deportation. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Danilo Sansonetti works out of small space inside a hair salon on Chicago\u2019s Northwest Side where, among other duties, he assists Venezuelans interested in obtaining a salvoconducto and assists others in navigating the CBP app to arrange for voluntary self-deportation. Sansonetti was working out of his office on April 9, 2026. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 3<\/p>\n Danilo Sansonetti works out of small space inside a hair salon on Chicago\u2019s Northwest Side where, among other duties, he assists Venezuelans interested in obtaining a salvoconducto and assists others in navigating the CBP app to arrange for voluntary self-deportation, April 9, 2026. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n Expand<\/a><\/p>\n Sansonetti, who moved to Chicago in 2022, established a small private agency just a year after arriving to help his compatriots navigate various government and public processes, including obtaining a temporary travel document called \u201csalvoconducto,\u201d or safe passage, required to fly back to Venezuela if they do not have a passport.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw how some of my people had a hard time doing simple things, like paying a toll online or filling out documents,\u201d he said. \u201cI decided to open up this agency with my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n Sansonetti said that in the past year, more than 100 people have asked him for help obtaining the salvoconducto, which essentially functions as a stand-in for a passport. Most Venezuelans lack passports because they are difficult and expensive to obtain, he said. Many cannot afford the roughly $200 fee, so they often only come to the U.S. with a birth certificate or a national ID.<\/p>\n While some agencies charge up to $400 to assist with the process, Sansonetti said he provides the service free of charge.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re leaving, it\u2019s because they\u2019re desperate to return. They are going through a hard time here that they need to return,\u201d Sansonetti said.<\/p>\n To obtain a salvoconducto, Venezuelans must have an identifying document like an ID, a photo, and a copy of their flight ticket to Venezuela. The document is issued at no cost, but the purchased flight can cost thousands of dollars for families who are often without means.<\/p>\n Sansonetti said the document must also be requested online from within Venezuelan territory, as the application website is not accessible from the United States or Mexico \u2014 another hurdle.<\/p>\n In many cases, people turn to someone like Sansonetti when they do not have anyone in Venezuela to help them complete the process. He works with a contact in Venezuela to submit the application on their behalf. Once approved, the document is downloaded and printed for the client.<\/p>\n The process typically takes between one and two weeks. The document must be presented at the airport before boarding a flight.<\/p>\n But the salvoconducto is not a living document. It is only issued for a specific travel date, said Ana Gil, a co-founder of the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance. Which means that a flight delay or cancellation may invalidate it. Another risk: Immigration authorities at the airport might not accept the document for travel, Gil said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is not a standard procedure because those regulations could be subject to immigration officers and that is what is making things more difficult for people,\u201d said Gil.<\/p>\n Torres said that after the family\u2019s planned flight in July back to Venezuela was unsuccessful, she and her family went to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Chicago to inquire about their supposed flight. They were told to keep waiting.<\/p>\n The issue seemed to be obtaining their travel permits or a salvoconducto, according to an email from CBP representatives shared by Torres, where she was asked to notify them of any updates in getting her travel documents.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil now they haven\u2019t given us any answers,\u201d said Torres, who arrived in Chicago with their two young children in 2023 after fleeing the economic collapse in Venezuela. \u201cWhat a load of trouble it is to leave here.\u201d<\/p>\n In an email to the Tribune, DHS confirmed that Torres and her partner Carlos Bastidas each signed up through the CBP Home app in June of last year but were unable to leave because they do not have travel documents.<\/p>\n \u201cProject Homecoming is continuing to work with (Torres and Bastidas) to get the documents they need to return home,\u201d a DHS spokesperson told the Tribune.<\/p>\n Online tutorials for obtaining temporary travel documents have proliferated with so-called travel agencies explaining the convoluted process on YouTube <\/a>and offering their travel services. Locally, Gil said the alliance receives multiple calls each week from people who need travel documents to go to Venezuela<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been a nightmare for us,\u201d Gil said. \u201cWe need to have diplomatic relations back, we need to have a consulate open, an embassy open.\u201d<\/p>\n Bastidas chose to ask a family member in Venezuela to go to the government agency in charge of issuing salvoconductos and inquire about it in person. He heard of salvoconductos that turned out to be fraudulent and prefers to stay on the safer side \u2014 contacting national authorities directly, then having the document mailed to him.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the safest thing you can do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said he was told the salvoconducto cost around $120, another common occurrence among Venezuelans of conflicting information about the process. But what is understood is that to obtain the travel document, the couple need to show an exact travel date, which means they need to purchase their flights in advance. And they cannot afford it yet.<\/p>\n Amid the uncertainty of her return, Torres likes that her 13-year-old daughter is learning English and that her 10-year-old son is getting a good education in school, something they didn\u2019t used to have back in Venezuela.<\/p>\n But because they can\u2019t legally work in the U.S., they\u2019re determined to go back.<\/p>\n CBP Home app \u2014 a promise<\/p>\n To encourage immigrants without legal status to leave the country, the Trump administration launched the CBP Home app on March 10, 2025,<\/a> as part of Trump\u2019s Project Homecoming initiative.<\/p>\n The app includes an \u201cIntent to Depart\u201d feature that assists immigrants who do not have a criminal record in leaving the country, according to DHS.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is ZERO excuse for you to stay in the United States if you are an illegal alien. The United States taxpayer is generously offering those in this country illegally $1,000 and a free flight home,\u201d said then-DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin in July 2025.<\/p>\n On its website, DHS claims the app offers a \u201chistoric opportunity<\/a>\u201d for unlawful immigrants to \u201creceive cost-free travel\u201d and, in January, upped its exit bonus from $1,000 to $2,600 to leave the country. The website states it can assist travelers in obtaining valid travel documents and help with transportation to the airport.<\/p>\n The offer was appealing to Torres and Bastidas, and in June of last year, they decided to give it a go. Torres downloaded it on her phone and entered her personal information, including photos of herself and her family as requested by the app.<\/p>\n She said the app was easy to use and that the process was straightforward at first.<\/p>\n Around June 20 she received an email from CBP Home representatives telling her she would receive a free flight out of the country and the exit bonus on arrival to her destination country. They would also help them obtain valid travel documents if they didn\u2019t have any, the email said.<\/p>\n She was happy to receive a call in Spanish from CBP representatives who asked her about her availability to fly back to Venezuela in July.<\/p>\n \u201cI was excited,\u201d Torres said. \u201cI shipped all my things to Venezuela and said goodbye to my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n But after that call she did not hear back about her flight tickets or her travel documents.<\/p>\n \u201cThen the day came and nothing,\u201d Torres said. \u201cI was left up in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennifer Iba\u00f1ez Whitlock, senior policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, said the group has found the app unreliable in assisting travelers with documents if they do not have a passport, sometimes asking people to contact their country\u2019s consulate for help. She said there is little public data available about the CBP app. Most of the information comes from statements to the media.<\/p>\n Indeed, in an email to the Tribune, a DHS spokesperson wrote that more than 2,000 Venezuelan immigrants were able to self-deport using the app and those who qualified received the stipend, which is delivered via commercial wire service. Nearly 100,000 people have used the CBP Home app as of its one-year anniversary, according to a Jan. 21 DHS release<\/a>, which also claimed it was a \u201cfast, free, and easy process.\u201d<\/p>\n But on the ground, advocates seem to agree there are mixed results with the app.<\/p>\n Venezuelans may wait in limbo for several months after submitting their departure intent before hearing back from CBP App representatives about travel arrangements, Gil said.<\/p>\n Beth Brown, who launched the Faith Community Initiative in 2023 to help support Venezuelan immigrants, said she is seeing more families wanting to self-deport in the last year partly because their family members were getting detained and deported. But not everyone has been successful in using the app, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe federal government is making it sound like it\u2019s so easy to self-deport and anyone who wants to can, and it\u2019s absolutely not the truth,\u201d said Brown. \u201cIf they want them to leave, why can\u2019t they figure out a way to allow people to leave?\u201d<\/p>\n DHS told the Tribune they try to help immigrants looking to self-deport obtain their travel documents by engaging with foreign governments and providing \u201ccase-specific guidance\u201d to immigrants. But sometimes the documents are issued by the destination country and \u201ccannot be compelled\u201d by the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cVoluntary self-deportation remains subject to commercial carrier requirements and the admission requirements of the destination country,\u201d the DHS spokesperson said in the email. \u201cIndividuals can also use Project Homecoming to fly to a different country they have legal status in.\u201d<\/p>\n Sansonetti said many people choose to return by land to avoid obtaining the salvoconducto. They typically travel by bus to San Antonio and cross into Mexico, beginning the sometimes month-long journey back to Venezuela.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are just afraid to come across immigration agents. They\u2019re afraid to get detained,\u201d Sansonetti said. \u201cSo they avoid the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n Some have traveled by car or bus to Mexico, where entry without valid passports is easier, and from there go to Venezuela. But that comes with its own risks. Some Venezuelans have faced extortion and kidnapping at the border with Mexico, according to the Kino Border Initiative<\/a> and other advocacy groups that work with migrants.<\/p>\n CBP exit bonus \u2014 a \u2018gamble\u2019<\/p>\n\n
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Asmeryi Pereda holds her son Lennyel, Sept. 23, 2025, while talking to her husband, Darwin Leal, by phone. (Terrence Antonio James\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n