Immigrants' voluntary departures surge to record 28% amid ICE raids spike, lower asylum grants
WASHINGTON, DC: A record share of detained immigrants are abandoning their cases and agreeing to voluntarily leave the United States as legal pathways narrow, according to a CBS News analysis of immigration court data.
The review of decades of records found that from January to December 2025, 28% of completed removal cases involving detained immigrants ended in voluntary departure. This is the highest proportion on record.
Almost every month in 2025, the percentage of voluntary departures by detained immigrants rose, reaching 38% in December.
The analysis excludes immigrants placed in expedited removal proceedings who did not receive hearings before immigration judges.
ICE raids, falling asylum grants behing voluntary departures
The increase in voluntary departures comes as detention levels have reached historic highs and legal relief has become more difficult to obtain.
About 73,000 people were being held in ICE detention in mid-January, the highest level ever recorded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), CBS reported.
One such detainee, Vilma Palacios, 22, agreed to voluntary departure in late December 2025 after spending six months in detention in Basile, Louisiana.
“It's set up for every individual who is detained to get to the point where they're just emotionally drained and exhausted through it all of the way that we're being treated, to just say, 'OK, all I want is my freedom,'” Palacios told the outlet.
Palacios had lived in the US since she was 6 and had recently graduated from nursing school when she was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
A DHS spokesperson said Palacios “freely admitted to being in the US illegally” and “never sought or gained any legal status.”
Palacios disputed that claim, stating she had been awaiting a work permit renewal and believed she was complying with the legal process.
Court data show that only 30% of bond rulings last year were favorable to detainees, down from 59% in 2024.
Meanwhile, asylum approval rates have fallen. More than half of asylum requests were granted monthly from 2022 to 2024, but by December 2025, only 29% were approved, according to court data analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
Trump's mandatory detention policies add pressure
Under Donald Trump's administration, DHS has moved to subject anyone who entered the US illegally to mandatory detention, limiting immigration judges’ authority to grant bond.
A California district judge ruled in December that the sweeping use of mandatory detention was unlawful, but guidance from the chief immigration judge indicated that the ruling was not binding, according to a memo obtained by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
An Executive Office for Immigration Review spokesperson said that “immigration judges are independent adjudicators and decide all matters before them, including requests for voluntary departure, on a case-by-case basis, according to US immigration law, regulations, and precedent decisions.”
Some detainees attempt to challenge their detention through habeas corpus petitions in federal court, which require a judge to assess the legality of confinement. However, not all detainees have the resources to pursue such cases, and outcomes vary. Another detainee, identified by her initials U.G., told CBS she felt relief when a judge ordered her deportation after 13 months in detention. “I couldn't fathom just continuing to sit there,” she said. “Every day that I sit here, I'm choosing to sit here. I can sign and have them remove me in three days.”
