The US immigration system faces a complex situation with deportation orders — about 2 million people are in the system but half of them cant be sent back (which shows how big this issue has grown since 2016-17)
Current data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows multiple reasons why deportations dont work: some countries just wont accept their own citizens back; others put strict limits on how many people theyʼll take. Many would-be deportees are either:
- serving time in US prisons
- got medical issues that need treatment
- face real danger back home
- received special permission to stay
The process gets more complicated when dealing with international rules — some nations demand extra proof of citizenship; while others take months to verify documents. This creates a stand-still where ICE officers must keep cases open without any clear end-date: its just part of the day-to-day reality in immigration enforcement
The backlog keeps growing as new cases pile up: theres a mix of diplomatic red-tape legal requirements and practical issues that slow everything down. Countries like China India and several others have specific rules about accepting deportees which makes the whole process extra-hard (and sometimes impossible)