ICE Is Pressuring People in Custody to Self-Deport. Many Are Giving Up.

Flyers urging immigrants to self-deport have been posted in immigration courts around the country. Photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images.

On an afternoon in early July, Immigration Judge Guy Grande appeared on a television on a wall of the courtroom inside Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego and called a man from Mexico up to the front to hear his case.

“I held your case over from this morning because you wanted to just take a removal order,” Grande said, a hint of confusion in his voice. “Is that still the case?”