The United States government will increase the financial incentive offered to immigrants who are in the country irregularly and choose to leave American territory voluntarily to US$2,600, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported this Wednesday (21).
According to the official statement, the value of the incentive – which until then was US$1,000 – was increased and described by DHS as a “gift” on the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The policy is part of the government’s strategy to encourage the so-called “self-deportation”, without the need for coercive actions.
According to DHS, since January 2025, 2.2 million people with irregular immigration status would have left the United States voluntarily. The ministry also states that “tens of thousands” of these cases occurred through the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) application, used to register departure from the country.
The Department of Homeland Security also reported that, since the beginning of Trump’s current term, 622,000 people had been deported until December last year. This data was also challenged by a recent analysis by the Brookings think tank, which estimated the real number of expulsions at between 310,000 and 350,000.
