By Gonzalez Olivieri, on Immigration Updates
The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has announced an expanded voluntary self-deportation program offering undocumented immigrants a $2,600 stipend plus free airfare to return to their countries of origin through the CBP Home mobile application. According to the announcement, 2.2 million undocumented immigrants have voluntarily self-deported since January 2025, with tens of thousands using the CBP Home program specifically. The initiative builds on a prior “Home for the Holidays” campaign and offers additional benefits including forgiveness of civil fines and penalties for failure to depart. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem characterized the offer as a “gift” from taxpayers, emphasizing it as the preferable alternative to enforcement-based removal.
The program is framed as fiscally efficient, reducing per-person removal costs from $18,245 for enforced deportations to $5,100 for self-deportations through the app; a savings of over $13,000 per person. The announcement combines financial incentive with implicit warnings, emphasizing that undocumented immigrants face near-certain eventual apprehension if they do not self-deport voluntarily, and that those who do not depart will be permanently barred from returning to the United States. The timing coincides with the Trump administration’s first anniversary in office and its stated focus on mass deportation
For more information on this, and other immigration matters, contact the attorneys at Gonzalez Olivieri LLC today.
Reference:
Press Release, U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., Celebrating One Year of Trump: DHS Now Offering $2,600 Stipend Via the CBP Home App for Illegal Aliens to Leave Now (Jan. 21, 2026).
