This browser does not support the Video element.
San Francisco immigration advocate pushes back on $3,000 'holiday stipend' to get immigrants to leave
San Francisco immigration advocate pushes back on $3,000 'holiday stipend' to get immigrants to leave.
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco professor of immigration is wondering whether the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's "holiday stipend" to offer to pay undocumented immigrants $3,000 and a free plane ticket to leave the country will be successful.
On the one hand, University of San Francisco professor Bill Hing said some of his students and people without families have essentially "given up" and are willing to self-deport and move back to their native countries.
On the other hand, Hing told KTVU on Monday that he knows two people who tried to apply for an earlier DHS offer where the Trump administration was offering $1,000 to self-deport – and he said they never got their money.
He questioned whether anyone would apply for this new DHS offer if word gets out that applicants won't get paid.
"This is a move of desperation," Hing said. "It's also asking a lot of people to leave the country, especially during the holiday. I just don't think the timing is good here."
The Trump administration promised to deport a million people, and they've fallen short of that, Hing said. This move to pay someone $3,000 to self-deport is much cheaper than the high price it costs to round people up, detain them and deport them.
San Francisco immigration court decimated; more firings, retirements
San Francisco's immigration court is now decimated, down to just four judges left to decide asylum cases starting Jan. 1, from a high of 21 at the start of the year.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the "holiday stipend" on Monday, which is triple the normal $1,000 monetary incentive offered by President Donald Trump's administration.
The offer only stands if they register by the end of the year for self-deportation through the CBP One app.
And despite some backlash on social media showing legal citizens being detained by ICE agents and this administration’s aggressive immigration policies, Trump is ramping up for 2026 with billions in new funding to further push his agenda.
In July, Trump signed legislation that infused about $170 billion into border security and immigration enforcement spread out over five years.
ICE is set to get $76.5 billion, nearly 10 times its current annual budget. Some $45 billion will go toward increasing detention capacity. Nearly $30 billion is for hiring 10,000 more staff, so the agency can meet its goal of 1 million annual deportations.
New hires include "deportation officers" responsible for tracking down, arresting and removing people who the administration determines no longer have the right to remain in the U.S.
Fox Digital contributed to this report.