❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a $3,000 “exit bonus” for migrants who voluntarily self-deport by December 31, 2025, using the CBP Home app.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security, and illegal immigrants.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The program is active through December 31, 2025, across the United States.
💬KEY QUOTE: “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 never return.” – Kristi Noem
🎯IMPACT: DHS reports 1.9 million migrants have voluntarily self-deported since January 2025, with tens of thousands utilizing the CBP Home app.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded its voluntary self-deportation initiative by increasing the financial incentive for migrants living in the United States to $3,000 if they leave the country by the end of December. The program, promoted through the CBP Home app, is designed to encourage migrants to depart voluntarily rather than face arrest and removal by federal authorities.
In addition to the cash payment, DHS is offering free airfare to eligible participants returning to their home countries and waiving certain civil fines or penalties associated with unlawful residency, provided they leave voluntarily. The incentive was previously set at $1,000 but has now been tripled as part of what the department has described as a seasonal push to increase participation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the program reflects the administration’s broader immigration enforcement strategy. “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 never return,” Noem said in a statement.
She added that since President Donald J. Trump began his second term in January 2025, 1.9 million migrants have voluntarily left the United States. “Since January 2025, 1.9 million illegal aliens have voluntarily self-deported and tens of thousands have used the CBP Home program,” Noem said in a recent news release.
The CBP Home app, which replaced the earlier CBP One platform, allows users to notify the government of their intent to leave and track their departure without being placed in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. DHS officials say the app is also used by people who legally cross the border, such as those traveling regularly between the U.S. and Mexico. A DHS spokesman confirmed that tens of thousands of migrants have used the app to exit the country, though the agency has not released precise figures.
The voluntary departure program comes as the administration intensifies formal deportation efforts. Federal officials have indicated that ICE is approaching a goal of roughly 600,000 deportations in 2025, marking one of the largest annual removal totals in recent history. The scale of the effort has drawn attention across the political spectrum, including from John Sandweg, a former acting ICE director under former President Barack Obama, who called the current deportation numbers “a remarkable accomplishment.”
Administration officials have also linked the enforcement push to economic effects. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said mass deportations are helping lower rents by easing pressure on housing markets, arguing that reduced illegal immigration benefits American workers and families.
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