Name: DHS triples exit bonus for undocumented immigrants who self-deport
Uploaded: 2025-12-23T00:38:50.314Z
Duration: 3 min 40 s
Description: The Department of Homeland Security is increasing the financial incentive for undocumented migrants who voluntarily leave the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security is increasing the financial incentive for undocumented migrants who voluntarily leave the U.S.

Washington

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced an increase in its exit bonus for undocumented immigrants who voluntarily leave the United States, tripling the amount from $1,000 to $3,000 for those who self-deport by the end of 2025. To participate, migrants must use the CBP Home app to register and confirm their departure, and those using the program are deprioritized for enforcement actions if they are making progress toward leaving.

DHS claims that since January, 1.9 million undocumented immigrants have voluntarily left the country, though these figures have not been independently verified. The self-deportation initiative is part of a broader strategy that includes traditional deportations and expanded removal agreements. The article also details a federal court case involving Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, an undocumented man mistakenly deported despite legal protections, who will remain free from detention pending further court decisions.

DHS triples "exit bonus" for undocumented immigrants who self-deport

In a story first reported by CBS News, the Homeland Security Department is increasing the financial incentive for undocumented migrants who voluntarily leave the US. Officials say they will now offer a $3,000 so-called exit bonus to those who self-deport from the US by the end of 2025. That's triple the initial offer of $1,000 made earlier this year. DHS says that since January, 1.9 million undocumented immigrants have voluntarily left the US. CBS News Homeland Security correspondent, Nicole Skanga, was first to report this and joins us now. Nicole, how does this program work? See, in order to take part in the program, migrants need to download what's known as the CBP Home app on a smartphone, enter their personal information, and register their plans to depart the US voluntarily. DHS says migrants can use that app to notify the Department of their departure and to confirm they've left the country once their travel is all done. As part of a holiday push to encourage self-deportation, DHS, as you mentioned, tripled that cash stipend from $1,000 to $3,000 for those who leave by the end of the calendar year, December 31st. The department says people who use the program are then deprioritized for enforcement actions so long as they're making meaningful strides towards leaving the United States. And this program is just one part of the administration's larger efforts to remove undocumented migrants. Where do things stand nearly a year into the president's second term? Yeah, Lindsay, you mentioned that DHS says about 1.9 million undocumented migrants voluntarily self-deported since January with tens of thousands using the CBP Home app. Now, we should note CBS News hasn't been able to independently verify those claims, and CBP hasn't fully documented those numbers. But according to internal government figures that were previously obtained by CBS, over the first six months of the president's second term, the administration deported nearly 150,000 people and recorded at least 13,000 who self-deported. But as you mentioned, self-deportation is just one piece of a larger puzzle. Apart from the voluntary departures, the administration has also continued traditional ICE deportations and expanded removal agreements with countries like Honduras and Colombia. More recently, the Trump administration has taken steps to restrict other legal immigration pathways, pausing immigration applications filed by people from at least 19 countries of concern and pausing all asylum applications temporarily. A federal judge today also heard arguments over whether Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, the man mistakenly deported to El Salvador, should be returned to immigration custody after being freed earlier this month. What happened? Yeah, to remind our viewers, the undocumented man who'd been living in Maryland had been mistakenly deported to El Salvador to stay caught in early 2025, despite a valid order of protection that should have barred his removal. Now, a federal court ordered his return to the US, and after his release from immigration detention, DHS is now saying they want to retake him into custody to resume deportation proceedings, arguing that he has exhausted his legal protections here in the United States. But lawyers for Abrego-Garcia said in court today their client should remain free while immigration courts review his asylum claims and his criminal case in Tennessee plays out. A federal judge today ruled that Abrego-Garcia will remain free from government detention until at least December 30th, and in the meantime, DOJ has until December 26th to tell the government, or in this case, the judge, what their definitive plans are for him, how and where they intend to detain and potentially deport him. So this is another one of those to-be-continues. Okay, Nicole Skinga, thank you. Thank you.

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