Snapshot 6:Tue, Dec 23, 2025 6:36:18 PM GMT last edited by Kevin

DHS Triples Self-Deportation Payment to $3,000 by Year-End

Published 1 day ago

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Above: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference in Bradenton, Florida on Oct. 20, 2025. Image credit: Octavio Jones/Getty Images

The Spin

Two million immigrants have already left America during Trump's first year, proving the self-deportation strategy works brilliantly to reduce the massive fiscal burden illegal immigration creates. The tripled $3,000 incentive plus free flights represents smart policy that costs taxpayers far less than the $65,000 lifetime fiscal drain each illegal immigrant generates through services used versus taxes paid. Voluntary departure avoids expensive detention and deportation while clearing out populations that overwhelm courts and drain public resources.

Trump Department of Homeland Security Center for Immigration Studies

Bill Mitchell on X

DHS's self-deportation program is a deceptive trap that pressures vulnerable immigrants into surrendering valuable legal rights for temporary cash. Those in removal proceedings or detention face coercive conditions that push them to abandon asylum claims, cancellation of removal or family-based pathways — often without clear disclosure that they may trigger permanent 3- or 10-year reentry bars. DHS is an enforcement agency, not a legal advisor, yet markets the program while immigrants forfeit court protections and humanitarian relief worth far more than any stipend.

Herman Legal Group, LLC The Marshall Project

Cash incentives alone won’t drive mass self-deportation. A $3,000 check and a plane ticket won’t outweigh U.S. wages or the reality that enforcement resources are limited. Real results require shrinking the jobs magnet — through aggressive worksite enforcement, mandatory E-Verify and employer accountability. Without cutting off illegal employment, voluntary departures will remain marginal, symbolic, and easily absorbed by a labor market that keeps pulling people back in.

National Review