WASHINGTON — Voluntary departures from the United States rose to 112,000 in the second quarter of 2026, a 35 percent increase from the prior quarter, according to Department of Homeland Security data. The total is the highest for any quarter in more than a decade and reflects the Trump administration's push to make remaining in the country economically untenable for undocumented immigrants.
The surge follows a series of enforcement actions and regulatory shifts targeting employers. ICE conducted more than 3,500 workplace enforcement actions in Q2, up from 2,100 in Q1, threatening undocumented workers with arrest and employers with steep fines. The chilling effect has rippled across agriculture, construction and hospitality—industries that depend heavily on immigrant labor.
President Trump advocated for self-deportation strategies throughout his 2024 campaign. His administration argues the approach shrinks the undocumented population while freeing jobs for U.S. citizens. The current enforcement pace exceeds prior peaks from 2018 and 2020. The fiscal year 2026 budget allocated $32.4 billion to immigration enforcement—an 18 percent increase—with a large share directed toward interior operations.
The clearest financial winners are the private contractors running detention facilities, surveillance systems and deportation transport. GEO Group and CoreCivic reported federal contract revenue increases of 15 percent and 12 percent, respectively, in the first half of 2026, according to their Q2 earnings reports. Both companies spent heavily to protect that business: GEO Group logged $1.8 million in federal lobbying in Q2 and CoreCivic spent $1.5 million, with both firms targeting appropriations committees for more detention beds and border security technology, according to OpenSecrets filings.
The losers are stacking up on the other side of the ledger. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates a 7 percent drop in available seasonal farm labor this harvest season, translating to roughly $1.2 billion in lost agricultural output. The American Hotel & Lodging Association spent $950,000 on federal lobbying in Q2, pushing for immigration reform that includes legal guest-worker pathways, according to its disclosure forms.
Immigrant advocacy groups say the enforcement surge is destabilizing communities. The National Immigration Law Center reported a 40 percent increase in requests for legal aid tied to workplace raids and family separation over the past six months.
Legal challenges to the administration's expanded use of expedited removal are ongoing. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed multiple lawsuits arguing that the procedures deny due process by bypassing formal hearings.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the agency plans to expand interior enforcement operations in Q3, concentrating on urban areas with high concentrations of undocumented workers.
The administration's strategy effectively shifts the financial cost of reducing the undocumented population from federal deportation budgets onto individual workers—while directing billions in contracts to the private firms built to profit from enforcement.
