The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a limited-time holiday incentive offering $3,000 and a free flight home to undocumented migrants who agree to voluntarily leave the United States by the end of the year.
Masked federal agents walk in a hallway at the New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court inside the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York.(AFP)
According to a DHS press release issued on Monday, individuals in the US illegally who sign up to self-deport through the CBP Home mobile application before December 31 will receive the cash stipend, paid travel to their home countries, and forgiveness of any civil fines or penalties for failing to depart the country.
Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem said the incentive, which triples the earlier $1,000 payment unveiled in May, is aimed at accelerating voluntary departures during the holiday season while reducing enforcement costs.
“Since January 2025, 1.9 million illegal aliens have voluntarily self-deported and tens of thousands have used the CBP Home program,” Noem said. “During the Christmas season, the US taxpayer is generously tripling the incentive to leave voluntarily — offering a $3,000 exit bonus, but just until the end of the year.”
She warned that those who fail to take up the offer face arrest and forced removal. “If they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return,” Noem said.
The CBP Home app, previously known as CBP One, was launched under the Biden administration to allow migrants to schedule asylum interviews.
Under President Donald Trump, the app was rebranded and repurposed to facilitate voluntary self-deportation, which officials describe as a faster and cheaper alternative to arrests and detention.
DHS estimates that arresting, detaining and deporting a migrant without legal status costs the government about $17,000 per person – significantly higher than the cost of the incentive package, even with the increased stipend.
The announcement forms part of a broader immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, which has pledged record levels of deportations. While the administration had set an initial goal of removing 1 million undocumented immigrants annually, it has so far deported between 261,000 and 622,000 people this year, according to official figures cited by US agencies and media reports.
Officials say preparations are underway for a more aggressive enforcement push in 2026, backed by billions of dollars in new funding. Plans include hiring thousands of additional immigration agents, opening new detention centres and partnering with private companies to track people without legal status.