Los Angeles.- 28% of immigrants detained by immigration authorities in 2025 who were deported chose to abandon their cases before a judge and voluntarily leave the country, which represents a record number of foreigners who give up fighting for their processes, revealed this Thursday a CBS study.
The analysis based on decades of court records also found that the percentage of voluntary departures among detainees increased almost every month of 2025, reaching 38% in December.
That figure appears to be increasing as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown intensifies and the population of detainees in immigration detention centers increases, the television station warned.
The analysis does not include those who did not have a hearing before an immigration judge.
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Monthly Increase in Voluntary Departures
The last large percentage of detainees who chose to drop their cases was recorded in 2018 with 21%, followed by 19% in 1985.
The figures were revealed just as the Trump administration increases its projects to detain immigrants, amid criticism and lawsuits for alleged negligence in immigration detention centers.
The analysis also suggests that the detainees’ decisions to voluntarily leave the country are influenced by the few opportunities for them to be granted bail and to fight their cases in freedom.
Last year, only 30% of bail decisions were favorable to detainees, compared to 59% in 2024, according to CBS News analysis.
In addition, the number of immigrants has also increased to record numbers. By mid-January, approximately 73,000 people were detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) centers.
