The United States Department of Homeland Security has tripled the financial incentive offered to undocumented migrants who voluntarily leave the country, increasing the so-called exit bonus from $1,000 to $3,000 under its self-deportation programme.
Under the revised policy, undocumented migrants who register with the US government and depart the country by the end of the calendar year will be eligible to receive the payment.
The DHS said participants who leave the United States by December 31, 2025, will also qualify for free airfare to their home countries and the waiver of certain civil fines or penalties linked to unlawful presence, provided they use the rebranded CBP Home application to self-deport.
The CBP Home smartphone application, which is modelled after the Biden administration’s CBP One platform, is now being deployed under the Trump administration to facilitate voluntary departures from the United States.
According to the DHS, migrants are required to indicate their intention to leave the country through the app, after which their eligibility will be reviewed by officials.
The department said that once eligibility is confirmed, approved participants will receive travel assistance, while the $3,000 stipend will be issued only after the government verifies that the individual has exited the United States.
In a statement to CBS News, the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, warned that undocumented migrants who fail to take advantage of the limited-time incentive would be “found,” “arrested” and “never return” to the United States.
The CBP One app was originally created to allow migrants to schedule asylum appointments, but it has since been overhauled as part of the Trump administration’s broader mass deportation agenda.
The updated platform now operates under a voluntary departure framework, enabling migrants without lawful status to report and monitor their exit from the United States.
The DHS said the increased stipend forms part of a holiday-season campaign aimed at accelerating removals while cutting enforcement costs borne by taxpayers.
According to the department, providing travel assistance to migrants who self-deport is significantly cheaper than traditional enforcement measures such as arrest, detention and removal.
As of May 2025, figures from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement showed that the average cost of arresting, detaining and deporting an undocumented migrant stood at approximately $17,000.
Under the self-deportation initiative, the DHS said participants are deprioritised for ICE arrest and detention as long as they demonstrate what it described as “meaningful strides” towards leaving the United States.
However, officials have not disclosed specific guidelines on how long such protection lasts or how compliance is assessed.
While arrests by ICE and the US Customs and Border Protection remain the most visible aspects of the administration’s immigration crackdown, President Donald Trump has also pursued policies designed to encourage families and unaccompanied minors who entered the country without authorisation to self-deport.
In October, the US government announced plans to offer migrant teenagers a $2,500 stipend to voluntarily return to their home countries, according to a previous report by CBS News.
The DHS claimed that since January 2025, about 1.9 million undocumented immigrants have “voluntarily self-deported,” with “tens of thousands” doing so through the CBP Home programme.
Those figures have not been independently verified by CBS News, and the DHS has not released detailed data indicating how many migrants received government-funded travel or stipends compared to those who left the country without assistance.
Internal government data previously obtained by CBS News showed that during the first six months of President Trump’s second term, nearly 150,000 people were deported, while about 13,000 individuals were recorded as having self-deported.
