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2w ago

DHS Triples Self-Deportation Stipend to $3,000 Through Dec. 31

Officials cast the plan as a lower-cost substitute for arrest-driven removals.

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(Shutterstock)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 27: Ecuadorian mothers Andrea, 28, (L) and her cousin Jennyfer nervously prepare to board their flight to Ecuador from JFK International Airport on October 27, 2025 in New York, New York. They had decided to "self deport" after their husbands were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and later deported to Ecuador due to their undocumented status. The mothers, unable to work and care for their children without spousal support, chose to return to Ecuador with the help of the aid group Danbury Unites, whose donors purchased their air tickets to Quito and volunteers assisted with the logistics of moving. Andrea said she chose not to use the Trump Administration's app CBP Home, fearing that by sharing personal information with ICE, she could be permanently separated from her two children during the "self deportation" process. Andrea's youngest daughter Shanell, 7 months, was born in the United States and is a U.S. citizen. Like other small immigrant community aid organizations around the United States, Danbury Unites' Post-Disappearance Support Group strives to provide such vulnerable families whose loved ones have been detained with a modicum of safety while offering both emotional and tangible support by connecting immigrants to resources, regardless of whether they decide to stay in the U.S. or leave. Such groups have provided a humanitarian lifeline to many immigrant communities currently living in fear across the United States, as ICE expands its operations with the express mandate of mass deportations.

Overview

  • Eligible migrants who register via the CBP Home app by year’s end are offered $3,000, a government-paid flight home, and possible waivers of certain civil fines, with payments issued after DHS verifies departure.
  • Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urged people without legal status to take the offer, warning that those who do not could face arrest and be barred from returning.
  • DHS claims about 1.9 million voluntary departures since January 2025 and says tens of thousands have used the app, but it has not provided detailed public breakdowns.
  • Immigration lawyers and migrants report concerns including delayed or missing stipends, time in custody after opting to leave, and multi‑year reentry bans that can follow voluntary departure after unlawful presence.
  • The administration argues the incentive undercuts the roughly $17,000 average cost of arrest, detention and removal, and it is preparing a broader enforcement buildup with plans to hire thousands of officers in 2026.