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Santa Turns ICE Enforcer As DHS Pushes Self-Deportation Bonus

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Kristi Noem
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

A holiday-themed immigration message featuring Santa Claus as a federal enforcement officer has split the internet, as the Trump administration ramps up its push for voluntary departures from the United States.

The new Immigration and Customs Enforcement advertisement presents a familiar Christmas figure recast in a sharply different role.

The video opens on a hulking man dressed in Santa Claus’ traditional red coat, matching hat, and a white beard, preparing for duty by fastening a bulletproof vest and securing weapons around his waist.

As the sequence continues, buff Saint Nick is shown wearing an ICE insignia while assisting officers in detaining migrants on a city street.

The video ad then shifts scenes to a processing facility, where Santa escorts an individual through intake procedures before leading him onto an aircraft for removal from the country.

The accompanying message urges illegal immigrants living in the United States to take action before enforcement catches up with them.

“AVOID ICE AIR AND SANTA’S NAUGHTY LIST! Self-deport today with the CBP Home app, earn $3,000 and spend Christmas at home with loved ones,” the post’s caption reads. “Holiday incentive is valid through the end of 2025.”

Online reactions to the ad included a standard mix of enthusiastic supporters and liberal naysayers.

Some commenters praised the ad’s festive approach to self-deportation.

“When Santa’s naughty list has better enforcement than Democrat administrations,” one response read. Another added, “Deport them all, Santa. ICE is on the Nice List.”

Others questioned the premise of using Santa Claus in the role. “Would Santa be deported? Santa: Is Turkish. Enters the U.S. without legal authorization to do so. In other words, Santa is an illegal immigrant,” one commenter wrote.

Several critics objected to the tone and holiday-themed imagery. “No… just stop this. Or never talk again about a war on Christmas,” one post stated.

“This is freaking evil. Don’t make Santa the person who removes people from their place of safety. Ever.”

Some reactions focused less ICE agent Santa and more on the financial incentive itself.

“Can I self deport if I’m a legal citizen and still receive the $3000?” one person asked.

Another joked, “If Americans get on and get right back off can we get that $3,000? asking for a friend.”

Other users compared the self-deportation bonus to benefits provided to U.S. service members.

“So $3K for illegals, but only $1,776 for military members? I feel like that’s backwards,” one commenter wrote, referencing President Donald Trump’s recently announced “Warrior Dividends” payments to troops.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the self-deportation stipend has been tripled as part of a Christmas-season initiative.

The program offers $3,000 to individuals in the country illegally who agree to leave voluntarily by the end of the year.

“Since January 2025, 1.9 million illegal aliens have voluntarily self-deported and tens of thousands have used the CBP Home program,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

“During the Christmas Season, the U.S. taxpayer is so generously TRIPLING the incentive to leave voluntarily for those in this country illegally – offering a $3,000 exit bonus, but just until the end of the year.”

According to DHS, the program includes complimentary airfare to participants’ home countries and provides forgiveness for civil fines or penalties tied to failing to depart the United States.

The agency described the initiative as an alternative to formal enforcement action.

“Those illegal aliens who don’t take advantage of this special offer today have only one alternative: They will be arrested, deported, and they will never be able to return to the United States,” the department stated in its announcement.

DHS further described voluntary departure through the CBP Home app as a straightforward process requiring illegal migrants to download the application and submit their personal information.

The agency framed the option as beneficial for families seeking to reunite during the holidays.

“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport,” Noem said Monday. “If they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return.”

Noem discussed the initiative during a Monday appearance on “Fox & Friends,” outlining how the offer applies to illegal immigrants with varying levels of prior contact with immigration authorities.

“We’ll buy your ticket, give you $3,000 to go home, and that includes people that have not been detained, maybe have interacted with us, are detained and don’t have criminal charges against them,” Noem remarked.

“Raise your hand! We’ll help you get home. We’ll facilitate it, and you might get the chance to come back to this country the right way someday.”

She also contrasted the reality of voluntary departure with forced removal. “If you wait until we interdict you and detain you and arrest you and have to deport you ourselves, you’ll never get the chance to come back,” she noted.

Since President Trump returned to office in January, DHS estimates that 1.9 million migrants have left voluntarily, while another 622,000 have been removed through enforcement actions.

Noem said the administration aims to increase voluntary compliance by offering incentives and outlining future consequences.

“Well, it’s home for the holidays season,” Noem said during the interview. “Not only are we returning those kiddos back to their families that Biden lost.

“We also are saying that if you voluntarily want to go home now to your country, if you’re in this United States of America illegally, we will give you $3,000 through the holidays to send you home.”

During the same appearance, Noem said the Trump administration has located more than 127,000 migrant children who were separated from oversight under the previous administration.

“The best thing for this holiday season is that we have found over 127,000… of the almost half-million children Biden facilitated coming into this country and getting trafficked,” she pointed out.

“We’re finding them, and we’re returning them back to their families and bringing them to safety.”

While Noem cited nearly 500,000 unaccompanied minors, that figure aligns with earlier government estimates showing more than 448,000 migrant children were released to sponsors between 2019 and 2023, rather than a confirmed count of missing or trafficked individuals.

Noem also highlighted DHS policy decisions she said are intended to enhance public safety.

“That’s why I love this job, because I get the chance to get up every day and do something that matters,” she said.

Last week, Noem announced that the Trump administration will pause the diversity visa lottery program.

She tied the decision to a recent case involving a deceased suspect accused of killing two Brown University students and an MIT professor.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Noem said on X.

“At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”

According to Noem, the suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, entered the United States through the program in 2017 and later obtained a green card.

She later described the lottery during her television interview as “a dangerous program” that Trump has sought to end for years.

“We have tens of thousands of people who basically came in through a DEI program,” Noem said on “Fox & Friends.”

“Where they were allowed to enter this country chosen by a lottery draw and given the benefits of standing along American citizens.”

Watch Noem’s full interview on Fox & Friends” here:

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