In 2012, when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was campaigning for president, he was asked during a Republican primary debate how millions of immigrants who were living in the United States unlawfully could be removed. He responded that, “the answer is self-deportation.”

Romney was mocked widely for that idea at the time, but times have since changed.  

Self-deportation wasn’t needed to remove large numbers of deportable aliens then, but it certainly is now. The immigration court backlog in 2012 was only 325,044 cases, so it was still possible to support large-scale deportation campaigns with judge-issued orders. Now, the backlog is 3,432,519 cases, more than 10 times larger. The only way to put deportable aliens into removal proceedings now is to put them at the head of a line more than 3 million people long. And unless feasible new methods are found, the backlog will never be reduced to a manageable level. 

The immigration court closed 879,868 cases in the first 11 months of fiscal 2025, which is approximately 80,000 cases per month. At that rate, it would take 3.6 years to eliminate the backlog, but only if the immigration court doesn’t receive any new cases. The reality is that the court did receive new cases during that period — 505,599 more, in fact. And the number of new cases will increase exponentially when border czar Tom Homan shifts the focus of his enforcement efforts from criminals and national security threats to immigrants who merely have unlawful status.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Justice Department intends to reduce the backlog by hiring 600 active-duty military lawyers to be temporary immigration judges for extendable six-month periods. This would double the number of judges in the immigration court. But there is no precedent for this action, and there are at least three good reasons for thinking it would be a mistake.

First, there is no requirement for these military lawyers to have a background in immigration law. They cannot learn enough about immigration law in the amount of time available for training. Immigration law is just too difficult — second only to tax law in its complexity.  

Second, the Posse Comitatus Act prohibits using military lawyers to enforce civilian laws. Presiding over deportation hearings will engage them in civilian law enforcement, especially when they issue deportation orders. 

If the U.S. federal courts decide that the military lawyers are not competent immigration judges or that using them as immigration judges violates the Posse Comitatus Act, the courts may vacate all of their decisions. If this happens, will the immigrants they have deported have to be returned to the U.S. for new hearings? Will the asylum claims they will have granted need to be adjudicated again?

Self-deportation provides a better way to remove large numbers of deportable aliens, which the Trump administration is heavily engaged in encouraging and facilitating. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been telling deportable aliens that self-deportation would permit them to leave on their own volition. “If they don’t,” she said, “we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return.” 

The Department of Homeland Security has initiated a $200 million television ad campaign to explain the benefits of self-deportation, broadcast in multiple languages on television and online. In addition, the department established a CBP Home program that offers incentives to make self-deportation more attractive. 

When aliens have submitted notice of an intent to depart and have passed vetting, for instance, they will be deprioritized for any enforcement actions before their scheduled departure date. Family members can register as co-travelers; their departure will not be considered a deportation, which avoids the possibility of being subject to a fine, felony charges or both if they return to the U.S. without advance permission.  

In addition, they will not have to pay civil penalties they have incurred for failure to depart pursuant to a final deportation order, which can be up to $1,000.00 a day. Travel assistance is available, including help in obtaining travel documents, free transportation to their own countries, and other travel arrangements. What’s more, they will receive a $1,000 exit bonus when they confirm that they have returned to their home country.

The cost of these incentives is more than offset by DHS not having to pay for arresting, detaining or deporting illegal immigrants, which generally costs around $17,121 per person.  

Is the effort succeeding? Yes, it is. In a Sept. 23, press release, Homeland Security announced that approximately 1.6 million deportable immigrants have voluntarily self-deported. 

This should not be surprising. Mass deportations generate fear, which has been a catalyst to self-deportation in the past. Former President Dwight Eisenhower conducted mass deportations in 1954 that removed as many as 1.3 million deportable immigrants. The deportations began in June; by September, between 500,000 and 700,000 immigrants had self-deported.

The threat of deportation has increased greatly under the Trump administration, and the deportations are just starting. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has provided ICE with a $75 billion increase in its budget, which will be used to hire more ICE officers and fund other enforcement measures.

Immigrants who are just here unlawfully, without any further criminal record, will not be spared. Homan made this clear when he said, “It’s not OK for you to be in this country illegally … so, if you’re in this country illegally, you got a problem.” 

Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years. He subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years.