The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin offering a $1,000 stipend and covering commercial flight costs for illegal immigrants who voluntarily leave the United States.
The initiative is part of a push by DHS to reduce deportation costs and increase voluntary compliance. It also comes as the Trump administration has expanded the use of the CBP Home App to allow illegal immigrants the ability to self-deport.
DHS estimates that the new program will cost roughly $4,500 per person, compared to an average of over $17,000 per person for arrest, detention, and formal removal. Officials say the stipend will be issued only after confirmation that the individual has successfully self-deported. The program is expected to significantly increase self-deportation numbers, which are already in the thousands.
“If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement to Fox News. “DHS is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App. This is the safest option for our law enforcement, aliens and is a 70% savings for US taxpayers. Download the CBP Home App TODAY and self-deport.”
The DHS added that individuals who initiate the self-deportation process through the app will be “deprioritized for detention and removal” as long as they are actively taking steps to exit the country. Officials also noted that self-deportation gives individuals a chance of being allowed to re-enter the US legally in the future.
While DHS acknowledged concerns about giving taxpayer funds to those who entered the country illegally, the department emphasized that the program is aimed at long-term cost savings and is ultimately focused on removing illegal immigrants from the US more efficiently.
