Nationality: Between December and March, the nationality of immigrants has shifted amid these falling case numbers. In December 2024, Venezuelans made up the largest group of new Court filings by far. In March 2024 they no longer dominated with their numbers dropping by 93 percent. The number of Cubans with new cases also fell by 92 percent. In contrast, the number of filings involving Mexicans fell by only 50 percent, making Mexico the nationality with the largest number of new cases in March. Individuals from China fell by just 26 percent and rose in their rankings.

Where Immigrants Head and Reside: Texas, Florida and California continued to be the top destination states for immigrants who were arrested by CBP as well as where immigrants were residing if they were initially apprehended by ICE in the interior of the country and issued NTAs initiating their cases in Immigration Court.

At the county level, Miami-Dade also continued to be the top destination and residence—a position the Florida county has held for many months. Los Angeles, California was not far behind Miami-Dade and placed second in March 2025. Immigrants reported Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) with the third highest frequency of new Court cases. Once the five counties comprising New York City are combined, New York City continued to be the top destination edging out Miami-Dade in these rankings.

Detention Rises in Immigrant Court: While still a very small percentage of all Court cases, the number of individuals who were detained in pending cases continued to rise. At the end of last December, detained individuals numbered around 20,000. Three months later, at the end of March, the number of detainees had risen to about 33,000. In a related development, bond hearings also rose. These are held when detained immigrants ask for a custody hearing before an Immigration Judge asking to be released. If granted, the judge sets the amount of a bond that must be posted first to help ensure they will attend future court hearings.

In December 2024 only 667 individuals were granted bond after a custody hearing before an Immigration Judge. In March this number jumped to 1,884. Median bond amounts dropped from $6500 last December to $5000 this past month.

These findings come from an analysis of case-by-case Immigration Court records obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Other highlights from the March data, found in TRAC's updated Immigration Court Quick Facts tool, show:

• At the end of March 2025, with an overall backlog of 3,629,627 cases, 2,020,815 immigrants have already filed formal asylum applications and are now waiting for asylum hearings or decisions in Immigration Court.

• Immigration Courts recorded receiving 349,165 new cases so far in FY 2025 as of March 2025. This compares with 460,682 cases that the court completed during this period.

• According to court records, only 1.17% of FY 2025 new cases sought deportation orders based on any alleged criminal activity of the immigrant, apart from possible illegal entry.

• Immigration Court recorded closing 460,682 cases so far in FY 2025 as of March 2025.

• Miami-Dade County, FL, has the most residents with pending Immigration Court deportation cases (as of the end of March 2025).

• So far this fiscal year (through March 2025), immigration judges have issued removal and voluntary departure orders in 47.0% of completed cases, totaling 207,506 deportation orders.

• Out of 82,655 Immigration Court deportation cases completed in March 2025, immigration judges issued 41,813 removal orders and gave voluntary departure to an additional 1,836 immigrants, meaning that deportation was ordered in 52.8% percent of all cases.

• Out of 3,635 Immigration Court cases in which some form of relief was granted in March 2025, asylum was granted for 2,547 immigrants (70.1%) following their merit hearings.

• Among Immigration Court cases completed in March 2025, immigrants in New Mexico had the highest proportion ordered removed. Vermont residents had the lowest proportion ordered removed.

• So far in FY 2025 (through March 2025), immigrants from Mexico top list of nationalities with largest number ordered deported.

• Only 21.6% of immigrants, including unaccompanied children, had an attorney to assist them in Immigration Court cases when a removal order was issued in March 2025.

• Immigration judges have held 19,099 bond hearings so far in FY 2025 (through March 2025). Of these 5,190 were granted bond.

TRAC’s Immigration Quick Facts provides the latest data on immigrant detention, immigration court cases, and immigration prosecutions in federal court. Each page includes several key data points alongside a graphic or table, a short description for context, and a link to more data. Click here to see more about TRAC's entire suite of immigration tools.