As deportation operations have intensified nationwide, millions of undocumented immigrants have returned to their home countries. Many were deported by immigration authorities, but a significant number left voluntarily to avoid ICE detention.
The Trump administration states that nearly 2 million self-deportations have occurred since President Trump’s inauguration. These figures are based on estimates of declining undocumented populations from survey data, such as the Current Population Survey analyzed by groups including the Center for Immigration Studies and Pew Research Center.
Independent analysts and nonpartisan sources—including the Migration Policy Institute, Pew Research Center, CBS News, and Axios—have criticized these claims as potentially inflated or unorthodox.
