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Instagram posts
Instagram posts
stated on January 20, 2025 a post:

“ICE has released the tip hotline to turn in illegal immigrants. They paying $750 for each illegal immigrant.”

False
By Maria Briceño
January 23, 2025

No, US immigration officials are not paying $750 for turning in immigrants in the U.S. illegally

If your time is short

  • A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told PolitiFact the agency does not offer rewards for tips related to civil immigration enforcement, which refers to the detainment and deportation of immigrants illegally in the U.S.  

  • The federal agency does have a tip hotline and form to report crimes unrelated to unauthorized entry to the U.S., such as suspected child exploitation and suspicious activity. In some cases, the agency might offer money for those tips.

See the sources for this fact-check

President Donald Trump began his presidency Jan. 20 by signing multiple immigration executive orders. 

Now social media posts are claiming that a federal law enforcement agency will pay for tips about people illegally in the U.S.

“ICE released the tip hotline to turn in illegal immigrants. They paying $750 for each illegal immigrant,” says the caption on the Jan. 20 Instagram post, which included an image with a similar claim and a phone number.

Similar claims also surfaced on Threads and X about turning in immigrants illegally in the U.S. through a “tip form.”

But an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told PolitiFact the agency does not offer rewards for civil immigration enforcement, which refers to the deportation or detainment of noncitizens who entered the U.S. without authorization.

We also checked the agency’s website and found that the phone number included in the social media posts is to “report crimes, suspicious activity and suspected child exploitation,” in the U.S. and Canada. 

Under U.S. law 8 U.S.C. § 1253, an immigrant who enters the U.S. without authorization can face a civil penalty, which typically includes deportation, fines or being barred from reentry to the U.S. In some cases, such as reentering the U.S. after having a deportation order, entering without authorization can lead to a criminal penalty, according to the American Immigration Council, an immigrant-rights advocacy group.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does offer a tip form, but it is also to report child exploitation or other crimes unrelated to unauthorized entry to the U.S. On the tip form, the agency says there is “no absolute guarantee” that tip information will result in monetary payments, but the agency has the discretion and authority to pay for information used to support criminal investigations. 

We found neither news releases from Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor credible reports when searching Google and the Nexis news database about such payments being offered. 

Absent evidence that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is offering $750 to turn in people illegally in the U.S., we rate this claim False. 

 

Our Sources

Nexis, ICE offer $750 for turning in people illegally in the U.S., Jan. 22, 2025

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, News Releases and Statements, accessed Jan. 22. 2025

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE Tip Form, accessed Jan. 22, 2025

X post, Jan. 20, 2025

Threads post, Jan. 20, 2025

Instagram post, Jan. 20, 2025

Email interview with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson, Jan. 22, 2025

U.S. Department of Justice, 1911. 8 U.S.C. 1325 -- Unlawful Entry, Failure To Depart, Fleeing Immigration Checkpoints, Marriage Fraud, Commercial Enterprise Fraud, accessed Jan. 23, 2025

American Immigration Council, Prosecuting People for Coming to the United States, Aug. 23, 2021 

 

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