How does DHS define and count removals, returns, voluntary departures, and self-deportations?
Executive summary
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) distinguishes removals, returns, voluntary departures, and informal “self‑deportation” both legally and statistically: a removal is a government‑ordered, compulsory expulsion while returns are movements out of the United States that are not based on an order of removal; voluntary departure is a formal grant to leave at one's own expense by a judge or DHS; and self‑deportation describes individuals who leave on their own without a formal voluntary departure grant — a category DHS does not treat as voluntary departure [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. How DHS defines “removals” — government orders with consequences
DHS defines removals as the compulsory and confirmed movement of an inadmissible or deportable alien out of the United States based on an order of removal, and notes that removals carry administrative or criminal consequences for subsequent reentry because they are anchored to a formal removal order [1] [5]. The category of removals reported by CBP and ICE includes several procedural subtypes — ordinary removals, expedited removals, reinstatement of removal, and administrative deportations — and DHS/OFO and USBP distinguish removals among agency lines depending on custody and disposition codes [2] [1].
2. How DHS defines “returns” — departures without an order
DHS defines a return as a confirmed movement of an inadmissible or removable alien out of the United States not based on an order of removal, and DHS explicitly lists voluntary returns, withdrawals of applications for admission, and crew members sent back as examples of returns [2] [1]. Returns are often processed more quickly at or near ports of entry and can be recorded in CBP or USBP operational statistics distinct from ICE’s interior “removals,” which is why headline totals mixing agency data can conflate ordered expulsions with returns [2] [5].
3. Voluntary departure — a formal, conditional option to avoid a removal order
Voluntary departure is a statutory option in which an alien is granted leave to depart the United States at their own expense within a set timeframe either before or at the conclusion of proceedings; accepting voluntary departure typically requires admitting removability and may preserve some future immigration options compared with a formal removal, though failure to depart converts the grant into a removal and carries fines and bars to relief [2] self-deportation-and-voluntary-departure-common-questions" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">[6] [7]. DHS and legal guides emphasize that voluntary departure can be granted by an immigration judge or by DHS under specific conditions, and that eligibility and consequences differ if the grant is pre‑hearing or post‑hearing [2] [7] [8].
4. “Self‑deportation” — leaving without a grant and how it’s treated
The term “self‑deportation” is used colloquially and in legal practice to describe individuals who independently leave the United States without having been formally granted voluntary departure; immigration advocates and legal resources distinguish self‑deportation from voluntary departure and stress that DHS’s statistical categories do not count ungranted, undocumented departures as formal voluntary departure [4] [6]. DHS programs like the CBP Home app aim to facilitate voluntary self‑departure logistics and incentives, but the agency’s own reporting treats assisted departures through official channels differently than informal departures by individuals who simply leave [3] [2].
5. Counting, reporting and the pitfalls of headline “deportation” numbers
DHS’s statistical reporting separates removals and returns and subcategorizes actions by operational office, disposition code, and whether the person was booked into ICE custody, meaning aggregate counts that mix returns, voluntary departures, and ordered removals can overstate forced deportations if read without methodological notes [2] [9]. Congressional and analytical sources warn that “removal” as a legal term replaced “deportation” in 1996 and that DHS, ICE, CBP, and Office of Immigration Statistics produce overlapping but non‑identical datasets, so media or pundit totals that fold returns, voluntary departures, and expulsions into one figure require scrutiny of the underlying definitions and custody criteria [5] [9] [1].
6. Key caveats and where reporting diverges
Sources converge that voluntary departure and withdrawals can avoid formal removal orders but still carry consequences (unlawful presence bars, bond requirements, etc.), and that expedited procedures like reinstatement or expedited removal bypass judges in many cases — points that complicate legal status and the meaning of “choice” in voluntary departures and returns; independent analyses and immigrant‑advocate guides highlight debates over coercion versus voluntariness and note DHS statistical frames do not capture every nuance of those choices [7] [10] [11]. Where DHS documentation is silent or aggregated differently across offices, reporting must refrain from asserting unrecorded motives or downstream legal effects not documented in the cited DHS or legal sources [2] [5].