Significant Rise in Deportations and Voluntary Departures in Charlotte’s Immigration Court
In a notable trend, Charlotte’s immigration court has experienced a major uptick in deportations and voluntary departures for the year 2025. This court, which processes cases from North Carolina and South Carolina, reported a sharp rise in the number of removal orders.
The total number of individuals ordered to leave the United States by this court reached 21,712 in 2025, marking a significant increase from the 14,272 deportations recorded in 2024. This represents an approximate 50% rise year-over-year.
Voluntary departures, where individuals elect to exit the country to avoid a formal removal order, also saw a dramatic increase. The court recorded 799 such cases in 2025, compared to just 167 in the previous year—an increase of nearly four times.
Despite the rise in deportations, the total caseload of the court only saw a slight increase, moving from 28,241 cases in 2024 to nearly 31,774 cases in 2025. This shift indicates that a higher proportion of cases concluded with deportation orders.
However, the court continues to face a significant backlog, with approximately 129,000 pending cases, ranking it as the ninth largest backlog in the United States.
