Number of ‘no shows’ in immigration court rises nationwide: NPR

The immigration judge issues a stern warning: “If you do not appear, there is a good chance the court will order you deported.”

She speaks to an immigrant from El Salvador in a quiet immigration courtroom in Hyattsville, Maryland, in November. Wearing an all-black jacket and shirt, the immigrant – identified only by his case number – swears that his latest immigration notice got lost in the mail.

The judge orders him to check his mail regularly, before his next appearance in January.

When the room was empty, the judge said loudly that there had been a number of no-shows that day. An attorney for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is filing motions in court for five people to be deported “in absentia.” The judge grants it. These people can now be deported.

A similar scene has played out, increasingly so, in nearly every immigration court nationwide over the past year, according to immigration lawyers and early analysis of court data by NPR. More immigrants are not attending mandatory immigration court hearings, allowing the government to order their immediate deportation.

“What happened is word got out that if you went to court, you could get arrested by ICE,” said Ruby Powers, a Texas-based immigration attorney with cases across the country.

In 2025, ICE turned to arrests directly from federal or immigration courts in order to meet detention quotas set by the Trump administration.

“Those cases weren’t consistent across the country, but at least word got out, fear got out. So people were really hesitant to go to court,” Powers said.

The number of removals was in absentia Overall already on an upward trend Every year since 2022, the number of such removal orders remains in the fiscal year 2025, said Andrew Arthur, a resident law and policy fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit that advocates for lower immigration levels. Almost three times that Previous year – exceeded 50,000.

NPR has counted the number of people who have been ordered removed “in absentia.”

Each of the top 10 cities with the highest number of completed immigration cases in those courts is on track to end the year with a higher rate of absentee deportations than they began. That’s according to data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review — part of the Department of Justice — from January through November.

Each of these courts saw an uptick in this type of removal order starting in the summer months. This timeline corresponds to the time when immigration lawyers say ICE officers began arresting people inside the courthouses.

NPR spoke with family members of immigrants who came to court in New York, for example, rather than their parents or partners — fearing their loved ones might be detained. New York courts have become notorious this year for scenes of violent arrests and confrontations with federal officers.

Powers said there are other reasons people may be afraid to go to court, including that they may not win their case or be deported to a third country. There are logistical hurdles, too.

“A lot of times people don’t even know they have a hearing, or hearing dates can change without receiving the notice in the mail,” Powers said. Sometimes immigrants can move and not immediately update addresses with the court, or go to places like apartment buildings where mail delivery is less consistent, she said. Notifications can also be sent to Addresses are completely incorrectwhich lawyers said has been a problem in past years.

Immigration attorneys across the country have noticed an uptick in this type of removal order. Organizations such as Center for Migration Studies I spotted that too.

In many cases, the Department of Homeland Security must receive a removal order issued by an immigration judge before it can actually deport someone from the United States, Arthur said.

“The more removal orders there are in absentia or at the end of the proceedings, the more people ICE can then target for removal from the United States,” he said.

Immigrants who fail to show up are choosing not to accept the government’s offer of due process, Arthur said.

“The more people who have final orders of removal…the more people will end up in ICE custody because the law requires that ICE detain everyone with final orders of removal, despite the administration’s stated focus on the worst,” Arthur said.

“This appears to go well beyond those historical trends,” Arthur said.

Immigrants may have the opportunity to reopen their cases. However, most people in immigration court do not have legal representation, and must pay for it themselves.

Nonprofit organizations such as Mobile Pathways The decline in the rate of arrests has been tracked in the courts. But immigrant advocates said that doesn’t mean fear and negative perceptions disappear.

“It’s probably within the narrative that the administration wants to portray, that these individuals are not participating in the process that they are supposed to be participating in,” Powers said about the rise in no-show removal orders.

Some of the families she represents have fled violence, are experiencing trauma, or are overcoming language and other barriers as well as the immigration law system.

“[They] “They’re making the best decisions they can with the information they’re given,” Powers said, adding that most immigrants still show up for their court appointments. “It’s just because a lot of things are stacked against them. That’s why we see these numbers.”