What specific activities does DHS include when it reports 'removed' or 'self‑deported' figures?
Executive summary
DHS’s public tallies of people “removed or self‑deported” combine several distinct administrative actions: formal removals (orders executed by DHS), repatriations and enforcement returns, and voluntary or “self‑deportation” departures that DHS records or incentivizes through programs like CBP Home (OHSS definitions and DHS press materials) [1] [2] [3]. That aggregation masks legal differences—expedited removals and reinstatements are processed differently from voluntary departures or app‑reported self‑exits—so the headline number bundles legally and practically different activities [1] [4] [5].
1. What DHS means by “removals”: the administrative categories behind the number
When DHS reports removals, it typically means administrative dispositions such as expedited removal, reinstatement of a prior removal order, administrative deportation, or “bag-and-baggage” removals executed by USBP or OFO offices—categories spelled out in OHSS’s repatriation metrics and data definitions [1]. OHSS explicitly defines USBP and OFO “removals” as apprehensions with dispositions including expedited removal, reinstatement, administrative deportation and similar dispositions where the person does not book into ICE custody [1]. These are legal actions distinct from court‑granted proceedings but still count as DHS removals in agency statistics [1].
2. What DHS counts as “returns” or repatriations versus removals
DHS distinguishes “returns” or repatriations—often described as voluntary returns to Mexico/Canada historically, and now broader repatriations—from formal removals; returns are dispositions recorded after an apprehension that end in a voluntary or administrative return without ICE book‑in to custody [1]. OHSS’s Key Homeland Security Metric separates USBP returns (voluntary return dispositions) from USBP removals, though citizenship limits in those categories have evolved in DHS reporting [1]. Aggregations that mix removals and returns therefore swell the headline figure without indicating the procedural difference [1] [6].
3. How DHS treats “self‑deported” and voluntary departure in its communications and programs
DHS and component sites present “self‑deportation” as people leaving on their own terms, sometimes with formal voluntary departure permissions or via app‑facilitated programs such as CBP Home/Project Homecoming that provide travel assistance and stipends; DHS materials call these voluntary self‑deportation and advertise incentives and deprioritization while participants prepare to leave [7] [2] [3]. ICE’s guidance frames self‑deportation simply as the act of leaving the U.S. voluntarily and notes that leaving may lead ICE to seek dismissal of proceedings if departure is proven—an administrative distinction that can avoid a formal final removal order in some cases [4]. Legal aid and court guidance stress that voluntary departure often must be granted by a judge or DHS and that failing to depart on time can convert voluntary departure into a removal order with fines and bars to relief [5].
4. How DHS aggregates “removed or self‑deported” in headline claims—and why analysts caution
DHS press releases and outreach pages have presented combined totals—“removed or self‑deported”—which pool removals, repatriations/returns, and voluntary self‑deportations, sometimes tied to promotional programs [8] [2]. Independent analysts warn that such aggregation can be misleading because it conflates legally distinct dispositions and counting practices; researchers reconstructing DHS data note the agency’s habit of bundling “enforcement returns” with removals into a single enforcement action figure, making comparisons and interpretations fraught [6] [1].
5. Practical implications and reporting limits: what the numbers do and don’t tell the public
A DHS headline number reporting “removed or self‑deported” signals total enforcement‑related exits but does not reveal the mix: how many were expedited removals, how many were voluntary departures authorized by judges, how many were app‑facilitated self‑exits, or how many were administrative returns to neighboring countries—details that matter for legal consequences such as reentry bars or whether a final order was entered [1] [5] [4]. Available sources document the categories DHS uses, DHS’s promotional framing for voluntary programs, and independent caution about aggregation, but none provide a single public breakdown that always disaggregates every headline claim [1] [2] [6].