Seven times as many people are abandoning their immigration cases and leaving when compared to the last 15 months of the Biden administration.
From January to March, American immigration judges processed 80,000 voluntary departure orders, per a report from the Vera Institute for Justice. As the Trump administration has embarked on plans to deport illegal immigrant criminals, they have also encouraged those who are in the US illegally to leave of their own accord. 70% of those were in immigration detention when they came up with the idea to leave on their own rather than wait for their court date.
When illegal immigrants leave on their own, they are still permitted to return to the US as tourists or to seek legal immigration down the road. That is not the case for those who exit the borders with a deportation order. Seven times as many people are abandoning their immigration cases and leaving when compared to the last 15 months of the Biden administration. During that time, only 11,400 people took the option to depart of their own accord. The Department of Justice issued a document on how to apply for voluntary departure.
Department of Justice guidelines for voluntary departure
Illegal immigrants in deportation detention facilities can leave at any time they like so long as they return to their home countries and do not pursue a court case in the US. While many people who came to the US during the Biden years applied for asylum, the vast majority of them are not eligible for that residency option. Voluntary departures have been greatest in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and California.
“The number of people receiving a decision of voluntary departure has risen dramatically since the change in presidential administration,” writes non-profit Vera Institute of Justice in a report, “particularly among people who were detained. Judges appointed by the second Trump administration have granted voluntary departure at higher rates than judges with more experience—while still granting orders of removal at comparable rates.”
One change is that those illegal immigrants who are detained to wait for their immigration court date are no longer given a bond hearing, meaning that their stay in detention has no reprieve other than voluntarily leaving the country or waiting interminably for their case to make its way through the immigration court system. That order rescinding bond hearings was given in July 2025 and following that, the voluntary removals ramped up.
About 60,000 people are currently in detainment in deportation detention facilities month over month. As of April 4, that number was 60,311. Only those without a criminal record qualify for voluntary departure and those who seek it must request it prior to their court date, agree that they are not legally in the US, waive or withdraw applications to stay, show that they have a plan and intention to leave, and “demonstrate that you are a good person.”