DHS offers $3,000 holiday stipend for undocumented immigrants who voluntarily leave the U.S.

Undocumented immigrants in the United States who register to voluntarily leave the country through the CBP Home app by Dec. 31 will receive a $3,000 stipend and free airfare, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced yesterday.

The holiday incentive, a temporary increase over the app’s usual $1,000 benefit, also waives civil penalties for overstaying or failing to depart. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem framed the program as a “gift” to those who leave on their own before the agency intensifies enforcement in 2026.

“Since January 2025, 1.9 million [undocumented immigrants] have voluntarily self-deported and tens of thousands have used the CBP Home program,” Noem said in a statement. “During the Christmas season, the U.S. taxpayer is so generously tripling the incentive to leave voluntarily…offering a $3,000 exit bonus, but just until the end of the year.”

The announcement comes almost two weeks after DHS said it would terminate family reunification parole programs for Haitians and immigrants from six other countries over the next year, citing security concerns and a shift toward individualized parole decisions.

The department also recently announced the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals, requiring most to leave the country by Feb. 3, 2026—a decision that has drawn widespread criticism from advocates and local officials, especially in towns like Springfield, Ohio, where more than 12,000 Haitians have resettled.

As The Haitian Times previously reported, the termination of TPS has triggered a wave of fear, legal uncertainty, and family separation in communities like Springfield. Local leaders and advocates in Springfield warn that more than 1,300 children under age four are now at risk of entering foster care or facing instability as their Haitian parents face deportation.

The new CBP Home incentive may be DHS’s attempt to ease transitions ahead of those deadlines, but critics argue that it places families in an impossible position. With Haiti still under a Level Four travel advisory due to widespread violence, deportees may be returning to dangerous or uninhabitable conditions—a contradiction advocates say undermines DHS’s humanitarian claims.

Many community organizations are encouraging affected Haitians to seek legal advice before making decisions through the CBP Home app. The department said individuals who do not voluntarily depart may face arrest and permanent bans on reentry.

DHS has not provided data disaggregated by nationality on who has used the CBP Home program to date.

“What is happening here is tearing many families apart,” said Marjorie Exumé, a Haitian immigrant, holding her toddler, after a town hall in Springfield earlier this month.

“We are not asking for special treatment,” Exumé said. “We are asking for humanity. Help us stay together as a family.”

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