A series of measures under President Donald Trump’s administration have slashed legal immigration to the United States by 50 percent as visa freezes, travel bans and stricter entry requirements resulted in one of the sharpest declines in modern American history.
In February, the State Department issued only 26,000 immigrant visas — the documents that confer green cards and lawful permanent resident status — compared with a monthly average of 52,000 before Trump took office.
The U.S. administration began introducing immigration measures in early 2025, effectively shutting down immigration from 91 countries and curtailing immigrant visa availability in another 61.
Legal Immigration Fell Sharply Under Trump Policies Adopted Early This Year
https://t.co/PjV5yTRFDI https://t.co/JFM1C3spGe— Curtis Morrison (@curtismorrison) October 18, 2026
Africa and the Middle East were disproportionately affected, with immigration from Muslim-majority nations falling by more than 90 percent, according to The New York Times.
Last month, an analysis by the Cato Institute, based on U.S. State Department data, found that immigrant visa issuance and refugee admissions for nationals of 45 Muslim-majority countries fell by 96 percent, from 21,096 in December 2024 to just 808 in February 2026.
The findings point to a particularly sharp contraction in legal immigration from Muslim-majority nations, beyond the broader decline in immigrant visa issuance.
The 91-country figure reflects a combination of the administration’s 39 travel-ban and restricted countries, Palestinian Authority nationals, and 75 countries facing immigrant visa freezes.
Legal immigration declines 2.7 times more than illegal immigration under Trump | The Post Millennial
Not only has illegal immigration into the US dropped dramatically under the Trump administration, but legal immigration has also faced massive cuts. Monthly legal entries into the US have declined 2.7 times more than illegal immigration under President Donald Trump’s second term.
According to an analysis by the Cato Institute, legal entries fell by approximately 145,000 compared with a decline of 53,128 in illegal entries.
Illegal entries, however, are overstated, as they include all Border Patrol arrests, including individuals who are immediately expelled from the country.
Border Patrol arrests at the southwest border fell by 81 percent from December 2024 to August 2026. Recorded border crossings by “gotaways” who evade Border Patrol significantly declined during Trump’s second term, falling 80 percent. The decrease began before Trump took office, Cato noted, as Border Patrol releases fell 96 percent from their peak before the transition of power.
The administration has pointed to Trump’s executive order directing officials to turn away migrants entering the US unlawfully, including those seeking asylum. However, Cato has also cited general fear among migrants of the Trump administration as well as worsening opportunities for low-skilled labor.
Legal immigration has also been affected by a series of Trump administration restrictions on visa and refugee admissions. The number of asylum seekers entering legally fell from nearly 40,000 in December 2024 to just 26 in February 2026.
The State Department stopped publishing immigrant visa issuance figures after September 2025. Since then, the administration imposed several restrictions, including a ban on immigrant visas for nationals of 40 countries that took effect in January. The State Department also suspended the Diversity Visa Lottery in December 2025 and announced a suspension of immigrant visa issuances for nationals of 75 countries in January 2026.
Visas for foreign fiancés and spouses of US citizens also declined. K visa issues fell 61 percent between February 2024 and February 2026, though Cato noted some applicants may have shifted to alternative visa categories.
Student visas have similarly declined. Issuances in February 2026 were 42 percent lower than in February 2024. H-1B visas for foreign workers also faced restrictions. In September 2025, Trump signed an executive order requiring a $100,000 fee for certain petitions involving newly hired H-1B workers outside the United States. The Department of Homeland Security subsequently reported that filings were reduced by 91 percent.
Refugee admissions have dropped sharply. The monthly number of refugees admitted to the US fell from 12,518 in December 2024 to 1,341 in March 2026. The administration set the fiscal year 2026 refugee admissions cap to 7,500, substantially less than previous levels.
“When we put together the full picture of legal and illegal immigration, we see that President Trump has indeed cut legal entries far more than illegal entries in absolute terms,” Cato reported. “The available information suggests that about 2.7 times as many legal entries are being stopped as illegal entries: 144,569 versus 53,128. Among the cuts to immigration, three-quarters (73 percent) were from legal entries, not illegal entries.”
https://t.co/fCXVpdEK2L
— Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) October 12, 2026
In the first year after President Donald Trump returned to office, visa numbers dipped only modestly — by roughly 10 percent. Then in January, an expanded travel ban barred individuals from 39 countries from obtaining visas or entering the U.S., while a separate pause on visa issuance blocked immigrants from 52 additional countries.
The immigrant diversity visa — a special category for people from countries with low immigration rates — had been suspended a month earlier.
Administration officials said at the time that the policies were designed to strengthen security screening of visa applicants and to guard against future reliance on public benefits.
Immigrant visas bore the brunt of the impact, but non-immigrant visas for students and workers also fell by 30 percent year-on-year. Tourist and business visitor visas dropped about 25 percent in February.
US fertility rates just hit another record low
In 2025, the US general fertility rate fell to 53.1 – the lowest level ever recorded
Japan, South Korea, and Germany have already been shrinking for years. Japan has been shrinking for years, South Korea’s population has already started to decline, and Germany would be shrinking without immigration
Now the UK joins them – deaths will outnumber births every single year starting in 2026
No economy grows without people
No pension system survives without young workers
No culture persists without families having childrenThis is the slowest civilizational crisis in human history
— X Freeze (@XFreeze) May 1, 2026
The travel ban fully blocked individuals from 39 countries from obtaining student or work visas, and new rules and fees reduced student and H-1B visa issuance for people from other nations as well. India and China, for instance, faced no bans but still saw steep declines in student and work visas.
In addition, legal asylum applications at southern ports of entry plunged by 99.9 percent, and refugee admissions were cut by roughly 90 percent.
The new policies were implemented without congressional approval and have since been blocked in federal court, as per The Times reporting. At the end of August, federal courts in two separate lawsuits ordered the government to resume visa issuance. Yet despite those court orders, the vast majority of people whose visas had been blocked remain in limbo.
Iftikhar Ali is a veteran Pakistani journalist, former president of UN Correspondents Association, and a recipient of the Pride of Performance civil award
