The Trump administration tripled the stipend it offers to migrants who choose to voluntarily “self-deport” from the United States, raising it to $3,000, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported Monday.
The stipend would be awarded to people who are in the United States without legal status and who register to leave the country before the end of the year, the DHS said. The offer would include a free flight back to their home countries.
“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this freebie and self-deport because if they don’t, we will find them, arrest them, and they will never return,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
In March, the Trump administration launched a rebranded app called CBP Home to facilitate self-deportation. The app, previously called CBP One, had been used by the Biden administration to allow migrants to enter the United States legally.
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DHS said in May that the average cost of arresting, detaining and deporting a person without legal status is around $17,000.
US President Donald Trump, who took office in January promising record levels of deportations, has intensified the crackdown on immigration despite criticism. Although he has promised to expel 1 million immigrants each year, his administration has so far managed to deport about 622,000 immigrants this year.
The administration is preparing for an even more aggressive crackdown on immigration in 2026, with billions of dollars in new funding. U.S. officials say they plan to hire thousands of additional immigration agents, open new detention centers and partner with outside companies to locate people without legal status.
With information from Reuters.
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