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The federal government will be tripling the $1,000 "exit bonus" for people without authorization who choose to "self-deport" this month, reports Jack Morphet of The Wall Street Journal. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling the new $3,000 payment a "limited time offer" as part of a holiday campaign meant to increase the speed and number of removals.  

DHS says tens of thousands of people already have left voluntarily. With the cost of arresting, detaining and deporting each undocumented immigrant coming in at around $17,121, voluntary departures save the government money.  

Some individuals who signed up for the program say their payments were delayed or misdirected or are missing, reports Delaney Nolan of The Guardian.  

Meanwhile, the percentage of detainees who had spent longer than six months in immigration facilities grew from 4% two years ago to 10% last month, reports Lauren Villagran of USA Today. 

Villagran follows Lithuania-born Tatjana Vesiolko, who's in her 11th month of detention and begging for a way out. 

We’ll be sending the Daily tomorrow, then returning Jan. 5. Welcome to Tuesday's edition of The Forum Daily. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s VP of Strategic Communications, and the great Forum Daily team also includes Jillian Clark, Nicci Mattey and Clara Villatoro. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected]. 

ASYLUM CLAIMS — The Trump administration plans to void thousands of asylum claims, saying that immigrants with viable fears can be sent to third countries, report Camilo Montoya-Galvez and Julia Ingram of CBS News. "Immigrants who are coming up on a hearing that will determine the course of the rest of their lives and their fate and their safety are being hit with this left-field motion just a day or two before that final hearing," said Adriana Heffley, a Georgia immigration attorney. 

SOUTH SUDANESE — After their recent loss of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), many South Sudanese immigrants in the United States fear deportation to an unstable homeland, report Jean Lee, Tavleen Tarrant and Yamiche Alcindor of NBC News. "You have people who have been relying on that status for at least 14 years, who have paid their taxes, worked, built lives here, and contributed to the U.S. economy," said Mariam Masumi, an immigration lawyer who works with TPS holders in Virginia. 

HIGHWAY SURVEILLANCE — Florida’s A1A Overseas Highway sees 3 million travelers annually. Now, with agents checking license plates and detaining immigrants, the highway has become a trap for many, reports Abel Fernández of El País. The fear among communities along the route recently increased when Elvis Garcia, a senior at Key West High School, was detained by immigration authorities while on his way to school; he was deported a few days later. 

LOOKING FOR PATHWAYS — Celebrity chef and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient Byron Gomez is speaking up for his fellow Dreamers, reports Kevin Lind of Deseret News. This fall, Gomez traveled to Washington, D.C., to voice his support for the bipartisan Dignity Act. "(Immigration) affects me on a personal level, but now its effects are at a community level," Gomez said. "I’ve been in this country for over 28 years, and yet there hasn’t been any pathway to a better, more sustainable solution of my immigration status." Read our recently updated Dreamers overview. 

Thanks for reading,  

Dan 

P.S. Against the backdrop of shifting immigration policies, a naturalization ceremony in Minnesota was a moment of joy, marking the end of a long journey for nearly 200 people, reports Shadi Bushra of MinnPost.