Homeland Security Increasing Self-Deportation Payment From $1,000 to $2,600

Self-deporting illegal immigrants who sign up to leave the United States through the CBP Home app can get the payment, the department stated.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends a House Homeland Security hearing titled "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland," on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 11, 2025. Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Wednesday that it is now offering a $2,600 payment to illegal immigrants who choose to self-deport from the United States through a Homeland Security app.

Self-deporting illegal immigrants who sign up to leave the United States through the CBP Home app can get a $2,600 stipend, which is an “exit bonus,” the agency said, along with a free flight to their country of origin, according to a statement.

About 2.2 million illegal immigrants have voluntarily left the country during the second Trump administration, and “tens of thousands” of people have used the CBP Home app, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

“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,” she added.

Last March, Noem and DHS announced that the agency would provide $1,000 for people to self-deport using the program, saying it’s the best method to leave the United States because it lowers an illegal immigrant’s chance of being involuntarily deported by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The DHS statement describes signing up for the CBP Home app as easy, free, and quick, advising illegal immigrants to fill out their personal information and then allow DHS to “take care of the rest,” such as “arranging and paying for your travel back home.”

“Those illegal aliens who don’t take advantage of this special offer today have only one alternative: They will be arrested, deported, and they will never be able to return to the United States,” the department said. “The smart and simple thing to do is to start planning your trip home through CBP Home today.”

The agency further stated that the $2,600 offer “may not last long” and that people who use the CBP Home app can qualify for forgiveness of civil penalties or fines for not leaving the United States.

The increased payment amount for people who leave the country is to mark President Donald Trump’s first year in office during his second term, DHS said in the statement.

It comes as a report from the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank released earlier this week estimated that net migration was negative in 2025 for the first time in at least half a century.

Brookings also said it found a “significant drop-off in entries to the United States in 2025 relative to 2024 and an increase in enforcement activity leading to removals and voluntary departures.”

About 675,000 illegal immigrants were deported by the government in 2025, said DHS on Wednesday. Brookings, however, estimated that the number for that year may be lower, at 310,000 to 315,000 removals.

The DHS announcement was made as the agency confirmed in a separate statement that it is launching an ICE enforcement operation in Maine targeting illegal immigrants who have committed additional crimes.

The agencies are currently engaged in a similar operation in the Minneapolis area that has drawn pushback from local Democratic officials and near-daily protests.

The Epoch Times contacted DHS for comment Wednesday for additional comment and did not hear back by time of publication.