The United States government has increased self-deportation financial incentives for undocumented migrants ready to leave the country.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has increased its financial offer for those choosing to leave the country to $3,000.
This self-deportation financial incentives tag “holiday bonus” is available to undocumented migrants who agree to self-deport by December 31, 2025.
The department said the decision comes as part of a broader holiday-season campaign aimed at reducing the administrative and financial burdens of traditional enforcement.
According to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, the program is designed to be a more cost-effective alternative to the average $17,000 required to arrest, detain, and formally deport an individual.
DHS says all qualified participants who leave by Dec. 31, 2025, will also receive free airfare to their home countries and be waived of certain civil fines or penalties tied to remaining illegally in the U.S., if they voluntarily self-deport using the rebranded CBP Home app. The smartphone app is modeled on the Biden administration’s CBP One platform.
Under the Trump administration’s policy, migrants are instructed to use the platform to signal their intent to depart. If determined to be eligible, DHS officials say they will receive travel assistance plus the $3,000 paid stipend once the U.S. government confirms the individual has left the country.
In a statement, Noem said that those who do not take advantage of the temporary incentive will be “found,” “arrested,” and “never return” to the U.S.
Noem said: “This Christmas season, the U.S. taxpayer is generously TRIPLING the incentive for illegal aliens to leave voluntarily. Through the end of the year, illegal aliens who self-deport using the CBP Home App can receive a $3,000 exit bonus.
“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will not return.”
The CBP One app was originally built under the previous administration to schedule asylum appointments, but under the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, it has been remodeled under a voluntary departure framework to permit those without lawful status to track their exit.
As part of the self-deportation program, DHS says participants are deprioritized for ICE arrest and detention so long as they demonstrate “meaningful strides” toward leaving the U.S., though officials have not released detailed guidance explaining how long that protection lasts or how any compliance is judged.
While ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrests nationwide are largely considered the most visible arm of the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown, the president has simultaneously pushed to compel the self-deportation of families and unaccompanied children who entered the country without permission.
In October, the U.S. government announced plans to grant migrant teenagers a $2,500 stipend if they choose to return to their home countries voluntarily, CBS News previously reported.
DHS says that since January 2025, 1.9 million undocumented immigrants have “voluntarily self-deported,” with “tens of thousands” doing so through the CBP Home program specifically. Those figures have not been independently verified by CBS News, and DHS has not publicly released a detailed breakdown showing how many individuals received government-funded travel or stipends versus those who departed on their own.
According to government figures, over the first six months of Trump’s second term, the administration deported nearly 150,000 people and recorded 13,000 who self-deported.
