Immigrants with outstanding deportation orders can turn themselves in and leave the country voluntarily through a pilot program launched August 5. "Scheduled Departure" marks a new government attempt to remove from the country so-called fugitive aliens — immigrants who previously received final deportation orders but failed to leave the United States.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency running the program, estimates there are approximately 572,000 fugitive aliens in the country, and those with no criminal history (about 457,000) are eligible to participate.