In Settlement, Homeland Security Agrees To Reform 'Voluntary Departures'

NPR | By John Burnett

Published August 27, 2014 at 4:20 PM CDT

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The Department of Homeland Security is settling a lawsuit with the ACLU, which deals with immigrants who were improperly pushed to leave the country. The suit alleged that DHS agents coerced immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to take part in a process called "voluntary departure."

Corrected: August 26, 2014 at 11:00 PM CDT

Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies states in this story that the settlement would allow "hundreds of thousands" of immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally to return. The American Civil Liberties Union disputes that, saying the number of people who might be allowed to return "will only be a small fraction of the total number of people subjected to voluntary departure in Southern California during the relevant period."