# A Removal Order Is Not a Suggestion

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/a-removal-order-is-not-a-suggestion/
- Published: 2026-11-05T20:37:14+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T21:40:09+00:00
- Original publisher: The Daily Caller (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://dailycaller.com/2026/11/05/scott-mechkowski-removal-order-ice-dhs-midterms-obama
- Topics: Politics

## Key points

- Removal orders can follow a civil immigration process.
- 306,557 of 485,456 orders in fiscal 2025 were in absentia.
- About 1.6 million people with final orders are on ICE’s non-detained docket.

## Summary

The article argues that describing people with final deportation orders as “non-criminals” can obscure why ICE arrests them: immigration removal is a civil process, and many grounds for removal do not require a criminal conviction. The author, a former federal immigration enforcement official, says carrying out a final order enforces a decision made under immigration law, rather than opening a case against someone without process.

The article says people facing removal may have had a hearing, could seek legal remedies and appeal, and may have been ordered removed after failing to appear. It cites 485,456 removal orders issued in fiscal 2025, including 306,557 made in absentia, and says about 1.6 million people with final orders are on ICE’s non-detained docket, up from 1.29 million in October 2023. It also notes that illegal entry and knowingly failing to leave after an order can be federal crimes, while acknowledging the distinction between being charged and having a criminal conviction.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.