Green Card Approvals Cut in Half by Trump Admin-How Applicants Are Impacted
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reduced green card approvals by roughly half and slowed the processing of pending applications across multiple immigration categories, according to an analysis by the libertarian think tank Cato Institute.
The study found that approvals for lawful permanent residence fell in most categories, excluding employment-based visas, with overall green card grants dropping by roughly half from earlier levels.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees USCIS, told Newsweek, “The Biden administration failed American citizens by undermining basic vetting and screening processes for aliens. Unfortunately, this recklessness allowed dangerous people, including national security threats, into our country who may pose a serious risk to the nation.”
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump’s administration has clamped down on legal migration and tightened pathways, making it more difficult to obtain lawful permanent residency and other visas.
What To Know
Family-based green card approvals fell 54 percent between July 2025 and January 2026, while total approvals in January 2026 were 22 percent lower than in January 2025, according to the analysis.
Family-sponsored green card approvals were 30,699 in January 2025 when Trump returned to office, rose to 52,181 in July 2025 after Joseph Edlow was confirmed as head of USCIS, and then plummeted to 23,847 in January 2026, the report said.
The report also found that some humanitarian categories saw steep reductions, including refugee admissions and Cuban adjustment cases. During the same period, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of Cuban parolees rose 463 percent, coinciding with what the analysis described as a near shutdown in Cuban green card approvals.
Cato’s analysis says the declines were not evenly distributed. Employment-based immigration was comparatively stable, while humanitarian pathways, including refugees, asylees, and parole-based applicants, experienced the steepest cuts.
Under the second Trump administration, USCIS has coordinated much more closely with ICE to conduct arrests of immigrants at government offices around the country.
“By obstructing their ability to receive green cards, USCIS degrades the rights of these applicants and may even cause them to lose their underlying status,” said Cato Institute Director of Immigration Studies David J Bier, the report’s author.
“This is a deliberate effort to boost ICE arrests by thwarting people's efforts to stay on the right side of the law,” Bier said.
What Is the Impact on Green Card Applicants?
The decline in approvals and slower processing times is likely to extend already long wait periods for applicants, particularly in family-based and humanitarian categories, according to the analysis.
As cases remain pending for longer, applicants may face prolonged uncertainty over their legal status, work authorization, and ability to travel, while some risk losing underlying protections if their temporary status expires before a decision is made.
Analysts say reduced throughput can also compound backlogs, delaying family reunification and limiting access to permanent residency even for those following legal pathways.
It comes as the United States already faces a large immigration backlog, with tens of millions of applications pending.
Following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., in late 2025, the Trump administration announced a series of immigration measures, including expanded vetting and a review of green card cases involving nationals from designated "countries of concern." The policy directed USCIS to reexamine certain prior approvals and contributed to broader processing changes, including suspending some immigration applications.
By December 2025, USCIS had paused green card processing for 19 countries, expanding the measure to 40 countries in January 2026, a shift that immigration analysts say added to delays and increased uncertainty for applicants and lawful permanent residents.
"Verifying identities and personal histories of aliens from various countries requires a rigorous process – one that prioritizes the safety of the American people. USCIS has paused adjudications for aliens from President Trump's designated high-risk countries while we work to ensure they are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” a DHS spokesperson said.
"Moreover, re-reviews of cases from high-risk countries that were approved under the Biden administration are ongoing, and USCIS has already found cases of fraud since the pause went into effect."
The Trump administration has also lowered the projected level of legal immigration to the United States by more than 600,000 people during his second term, according to an estimate by the National Foundation for American Policy.
What Happens Next
If current processing levels continue, the analysis suggests immigration backlogs are likely to deepen, particularly in family-based and humanitarian categories. For applicants, the practical impact is prolonged uncertainty, longer waits for decisions, delayed access to permanent status, and greater reliance on temporary protections that may expire before cases are resolved.
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This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 9:00 AM.