CBS News: Voluntary departures hit record high as detained immigrants lose hope of getting released or winning in court

Kevin R. Johnson

14 Feb 2026

Last year, 28% of completed immigration removal cases among those in detention ended in voluntary departure, a higher share than in any year prior, a CBS News analysis of decades of court records found.

According to CBS News, "[t]he percentage of voluntary departures among those detained grew nearly every month of 2025, reaching 38% in December. The analysis does not include those who were not given a hearing before an immigration judge, such as immigrants in expedited removal proceedings."

Human Rights Watch – US: Victims of Nicaraguan Government Risk Deportation

Human Rights Watch reports that U.S. immigration authorities have detained at least eight Nicaraguan exiles whom the Nicaraguan government stripped of their nationality, including some with pending asylum claims. Seven of the people detained were among 222 political prisoners whom the Nicaraguan government expelled to the United States, declared

The Conversation: US migrant flights to Liberia evoke troubling history of sending people deemed unwanted to the West African nation

Karen Masterson in The Conversation (US migrant flights to Liberia evoke troubling history of sending people deemed unwanted to the West African nation) offers interesting historical background to the Supreme Court’s recent decision to temporarily allow the United States to resume deporting migrants to third-country destinations: "[T]he

Immigration Article of the Day: The Derivative Dilemma: The Gendered Role of Dependency in Immigration Law by Veronica Thronson

The Derivative Dilemma: The Gendered Role of Dependency in Immigration Law by Veronica Thronson, 28 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Law and Social Change 147 (2025) Abstract In analyzing the derivative status and its implications for women, in Part I, I look at the role of family in the immigrant

Department of Justice Files Complaint Against the University of Delaware Challenging In-State Tuition for Undocumented Residents

Press release on October 1, 2026 "Today, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the University of Delaware for violating federal law by prioritizing the needs of illegal aliens over U.S. citizens in defiance of Congress’s commands. The Department is challenging the University of Delaware’s

Read more

Human Rights Watch – US: Victims of Nicaraguan Government Risk Deportation

The Conversation: US migrant flights to Liberia evoke troubling history of sending people deemed unwanted to the West African nation

Immigration Article of the Day: The Derivative Dilemma: The Gendered Role of Dependency in Immigration Law by Veronica Thronson

Department of Justice Files Complaint Against the University of Delaware Challenging In-State Tuition for Undocumented Residents