Trump Admin Now Offering $1,000 To Migrants Who Self-Deport

The Trump administration is now offering $1,000 to migrants who self-deport, describing it as travel assistance and a stipend.

Concretely, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said those who leave the country through the CBP Home app will be “deprioritized” for detention and removal.

“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 is now offering illegal aliens financial travel assistance and a stipend to return to their home country through the CBP Home App,” DHS said in a publication on X.

It is the latest financial incentive being discussed by the Trump administration as it attempts to ramp up immigration enforcement. In April the administration warned that it plans to begin imposing daily $998 fines to those who carry a deportation order and fail to leave the country. Reuters, which initially reported on the matter, cited documents adding that if they don’t pay the fine their properties could be seized.

The plan stems from a 1996 law that states that any immigrant subject to a “final order of removal” who “willfully fails or refuses” to leave the U.S. can face a civil penalty of “not more than $500” every day. The administration plans to apply the penalties retroactively to undocumented migrants for up to five years, resulting in fines of more than $1 million, an administration official told Reuters.

A flyer provided to Fox News Digital shows the “benefits” and “consequences” for undocumented immigrants who fail to self-report via de CBP Home App.

“Self-deportation is safe,” the flyer reads. “Leave on your own terms by picking your departure flight.”

By contrast, the “consequences” section of the flyer warns that those who fail to self-deport will be “apprehended by DHS with no opportunity to get your affairs in order beforehand.”

The steep fines could particularly hit lower-income immigrants. An analysis of 2019 Census data by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute found 26% of households with unauthorized immigrants had incomes below the federal poverty line.

House Republicans have also introduced a proposal that would require migrants to pay $1,000 to apply for asylum, marking the first time the U.S. government would impose a direct fee on such requests.

The bill, under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee, is part of a broader immigration and budget bill aimed at funding expanded enforcement and detention efforts while discouraging unauthorized immigration.

In addition to the $1,000 asylum application fee, asylum seekers would be charged $100 annually while their case is pending and a separate $550 fee to apply for work authorization. Sponsors of unaccompanied minors would also face a $3,500 fee. If a sponsor fails to appear in immigration court, the release fee could rise to $5,000. The figures would be indexed in accordance with inflation, Forbes detailed.

Renewing or extending work authorization for individuals under TPS, parole, or asylum would cost at least $550, with the renewed permit valid for six months or less.

The proposed legislation also introduces a $250 “visa integrity fee” for temporary visa applicants, which could be reimbursed under specific conditions. Other proposed charges include $400 to apply for a diversity visa, $250 to enter the visa lottery, $1,500 to apply for permanent residency in immigration court, and $900 to file an appeal from a Department of Homeland Security decision or immigration judge ruling.