Dec 22, 2025 - Politics & Policy

DHS offering $3,000 "holiday stipend" to self-deport by 2026

Avery Lotz

Kristi Noem smiles as she testifies to lawmakers (who are not pictured) while a man dressed as a clergy member holds a sign that says "STOP ICE RAIDS" and a cross behind her. — A demonstrator holds a "Stop ICE Raids" sign behind Secretary Kristi Noem during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11. Photo: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security announced a $3,000 stipend Monday for undocumented immigrants who sign up to "self-deport" from the U.S. by the end of the year.

The big picture: The holiday announcement came with a stark warning from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about the alternative: leave, or "we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return."

That kind of tough talk epitomizes the administration's immigration policy as the president rode into office on a promise of mass deportations — and has since choked even legal pathways to entering the country.

Driving the news: The holiday incentive for those who sign up to self-deport through the CBP Home app triples the previous $1,000 offer and travel assistance.

"During the Christmas Season, the U.S. taxpayer is so generously TRIPLING the incentive to leave voluntarily for those in this country illegally- offering a $3,000 exit bonus, but just until the end of the year," Noem's statement read.
Using the app qualifies recipients for forgiveness of civil fines or penalties for failing to depart the country, DHS said in its statement.

Catch up quick: DHS has already seized on the holiday season to promote its immigration agenda, sharing Christmas-themed posts that critics and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network condemned.

The department framed the $1,000 incentive as a "$1,000 exit gift" in a Cyber Monday post parodying an infomercial.
And on Saturday, DHS shared an edit of Christmas scenes, including clips from movies like "Elf," "The Santa Clause" and "Die Hard," behind the words "Christmas After Mass Deportations."

Friction point: The escalating rhetoric around immigration has repeatedly been rebuked by Catholic leaders.

Archbishop Paul Coakley, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, recently said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that deportations are instilling "fear in a rather widespread manner."
He told CBS, "in communities with a more dense migrant population, there is a great deal of fear and uncertainty, anxiety because of the level of rhetoric that is often employed when addressing issues around migration and the threats of deportation."

Flashback: DHS launched the app in March with a feature allowing people suspected of being in the country illegally to report when they "self deport."

It came after the administration shut down the CBP One app that facilitated the legal entry of migrants into the U.S.

Go deeper: Inside Trump's "funny numbers" on mass deportations

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DHS offering $3,000 "holiday stipend" to self-deport by 2026

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