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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using posters with images of India's Taj Mahal to promise free tickets and a cash payout of $2,600 to undocumented immigrants who voluntarily deport themselves from the US. Ironically, a monument for love has been turned into one of hate for immigrants.
Under Project Homecoming, eligible applicants who register their intent to self-deport are given federally funded flght tickets and cash payout to deport the US. (Images:X/DHSgov)
New Delhi,UPDATED: Mar 18, 2026 11:35 IST
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is promoting its self-deportation scheme, which offers free flights and financial incentives to undocumented immigrants to leave the country. The Taj Mahal in India features on the DHS poster promoting the scheme along with images from China and Colombia. The Donald Trump administration is cracking down on illegal immigrants in the US, and imposing curbs on legal migrants.
In a post on X, the DHS offered flight tickets home along with a payout of $2,600 for those who choose to self-deport by reporting themselves through the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP Home app. According to the department, the app allows applicants to begin the process by registering their intent to leave voluntarily, submitting their personal details, and accessing information on travel assistance and financial incentives available under the programme.
The post featured stylised posters of the Taj Mahal to advertise free flights to India for undocumented immigrants.
As of 2022, there were an estimated 725,000 undocumented Indian immigrants residing in the US, making them one of the larger undocumented groups in the country.
The campaign also included stylised imagery of China and Colombia, which similarly account for significant numbers of undocumented migrants in the US. The post read: "You can go home with a fresh start! Receive a FREE flight home and a $2,600 exit bonus when you use CBP Home to self-deport."
However, the use of the Taj Mahal in India's Agra, perceived as a Mughal-era monument of love in marble, is ironic as the Trump administration and the MAGA crowd have taken their campaign against migration to the level of hate. Not just illegal immigrants, even Indian professionals on H-1B visas and Green Card holders have been facing increasing incidents of hate in the US.
WHAT IS THE SELF-DEPORT PROGRAMME BEING ADVERTISED BY THE DHS?
The offer of flight tickets and cash payouts is part of Project Homecoming, a DHS initiative launched under the second Trump administration in 2025.
According to the DHS, the programme provides “a safe and dignified way for individuals who lack a legal basis to remain in the US to return to their country of origin or another country of legal eligibility,” offering eligible applicants federally funded flights and an exit bonus after they voluntarily and permanently depart the US.
In November 2025, former DHS secretary Kristi Noem had claimed that "1.6 million self-deportations" of undocumented immigrants have occurred since President Donald Trump assumed office, citing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Ends
Published By:
Shounak Sanyal
Published On:
Mar 18, 2026 11:35 IST
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