More than 1.6 million immigrants have lost their legal status in the United States during the first 11 months of President Trump's second term. This figure, tracked by immigration advocates, represents the largest effort to revoke deportation protections for those who entered through legal pathways. The administration has ended multiple programs, including temporary protected status for several countries and the CBP One app.
In the first 11 months of President Trump's presidency starting in 2025, over 1.6 million immigrants have had their legal status revoked, according to advocates from FWD.us. This includes individuals who entered via parole, visa, asylum, and temporary protected status (TPS) programs. The number surpasses the population of Philadelphia and is seen as an undercount by experts.
Hours after his inauguration on January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order ending a Biden-era humanitarian parole program that allowed 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter temporarily. The Supreme Court upheld this decision, making those individuals eligible for deportation. Most affected are Haitians, who have contested claims of system abuse.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has terminated TPS for 10 countries since January, providing deportation protection and work permits to nationals from war-torn or disaster-affected nations. Specific impacts include stalled efforts for 3,800 Syrians due to court challenges and Venezuela's TPS extended through October 2026 despite termination. DHS offers a 60-day notice and $1,000 incentive to leave voluntarily.
Other cancellations include the CBP One mobile app, which facilitated asylum appointments for over 936,000 people from 2023 to January 2025. Users like Venezuelan barber Grebi Suárez, who entered just before the inauguration, now fear self-deportation notices despite recent work permits. The State Department revoked 85,000 visas this year, including 8,000 student visas, often for DUIs, assaults, and thefts.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem paused the diversity visa lottery, citing a 2017 green card recipient linked to shootings at Brown University and MIT. The administration also ended Family Reunification Parole for 14,000 Central and South Americans. Upcoming expirations in 2026 could eliminate TPS for El Salvador, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Ukraine, potentially leaving no beneficiaries for the first time since 1990.
Todd Schulte of FWD.us criticized the moves: "These were legal pathways. People did the thing the government asked them to do, and this government went and preemptively revoked that status." USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser responded that taxpayers should not bear the burden of "unlawfully present aliens." Ukrainian Viktoriia Panova expressed anxiety: "We cannot create any plans for our lives because of this situation."
Lawsuits challenge many terminations, offering some immigrants alternative protections.
