President Donald Trump’s administration increased the amount paid to illegal immigrants who choose to voluntarily leave the United States to US$3,000 (around R$16,700 reais).
The incentive, announced as temporary and valid until the end of the year, is part of a broader strategy to tighten migration policy.
Payment is subject to registration of departure through the CBP Home application, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tool. Through the system, the immigrant himself informs the authorities of his decision to leave the country, a procedure classified by the government as self-deportation.
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The measure has been officially presented as a less costly alternative to the traditional detention and deportation process.
The announcement of the program has been accompanied by direct messages from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on social media. The publications combine the financial offer with warnings about the increase in repression against those who remain illegally in the country, reinforcing the dissuasive nature of the initiative.
The new bonus occurs in parallel with the expansion of the immigration inspection structure. Government members indicate that actions should intensify in 2026, with an increase in the number of arrests and removals. Since the beginning of the mandate, federal operations have started to occur more frequently in urban areas, including residential neighborhoods, provoking reactions and protests in some cities.
Congress reinforced this agenda by approving, in July, a budget package that allocates around US$170 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol until September 2029.
The resources will be used to hire more agents, open new detention centers and expand partnerships with local jails and private companies focused on identifying and custody of immigrants without legal status.
Despite institutional reinforcement, the policy faces signs of political wear and tear. Recent polls indicate a drop in Trump’s approval on this issue, and electoral results in cities with a large immigrant population indicate resistance to the measures adopted. Still, the government maintains that tightening is necessary to contain irregular immigration.
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Since January, around 622,000 people have been deported. Furthermore, the revocation of temporary legal status granted to hundreds of thousands of Haitians, Venezuelans and Afghans has expanded the number of foreigners subject to removal.
Official data show that a significant portion of those detained had no criminal record other than immigration offenses, indicating a relevant change in the profile of operations in relation to previous periods.
