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By Jasmine Laws
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New analysis of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data suggests that President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has fallen far harder on legal pathways than on unlawful crossings, despite the White House’s repeated claims that its policies are primarily aimed at curbing illegal immigration.
A report by the Cato Institute, an American libertarian think tank, shows legal entries to the U.S. have been reduced at more than double the rate of illegal entries since Trump returned to office in January 2025.
Jennifer Gordon, a professor of law at Fordham University, New York, told Newsweek that she was "not surprised" by the decrease in legal immigration.
Read More on Politics
She said that while the administration has focused "public attacks" on undocumented immigrants, these new statistics "show the impact of [Trump's] real agenda," which she said has been to "drastically reduce all immigration to the U.S. by non-white people."
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told Newsweek: “President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to put American citizens first and every policy decision he’s made has reflected that priority."
"Nearly all of the net job growth under President Trump has gone to native-born Americans, ending the disgraceful pattern under Joe Biden of job gains going to non-citizens and illegal aliens," she added, saying he had also "totally secured the border," continues to "remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens from our country," worked to "prevent mass migration from third world countries without proper security screening processes" and "undertaken historic efforts to end pervasive Somali fraud that has stolen hard-earned money from American citizens."
Why It Matters
Tackling illegal immigration was a central promise of Trump’s campaign, and when he was sworn in for his second term, he quickly signed a serious of executive orders relating to mass deportations and border security. He did also vow to crackdown on those admitted into the country under programs established to protect migrants from certain countries.
The administration has since credited the low levels of illegal immigration to the executive order requiring CBP to ignore American asylum law and immediately return any crosser to their home country, though this new analysis indicates that the reality might be more complex.
The White House has also argued it is enforcing immigration rules previous administrations have failed to, but critics have countered that by highlighting the president’s promise to go after the "worst of the worst," not those in the country seeking to follow the rules and not committing any crimes.
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What To Know
According to the Cato Institute, cuts to legal immigration account for roughly 72 percent of the overall reduction in entries since Trump’s inauguration.
The institute said that data from CBP shows that 132,000 legal entries per month are being blocked, compared with roughly 50,000 illegal entries.
The report notes that illegal immigration had already dropped sharply before Trump took office. Border patrol arrests at the southwest border fell more than 80 percent from their peak in late 2023, largely during the final year of the Biden administration, and continued along that downward trend into early 2025.
Meanwhile, several categories of legal immigration saw dramatic declines following policy changes enacted after January 2025.
Legal asylum entries at ports of entry plunged by 99.9 percent after the administration eliminated the CBP One scheduling app and effectively suspended asylum processing, dropping from nearly 40,000 in December 2024 to just 26 in February 2025.
Refugee admissions also fell steeply, declining by about 90 percent.
Monthly refugee arrivals dropped from more than 12,500 in December 2024 to roughly 1,300 by March 2026, after the administration initially suspended the program and then restarted it under narrowed criteria. The refugee cap for fiscal year 2026 was set at just 7,500, sharply limiting future arrivals.
Immigrant visas for permanent residency fell by about half, according to the institute, due to bans covering nationals of up to 92 countries and the suspension of the Diversity Visa Lottery.
Family-based visas for spouses and fiances of U.S. citizens declined by roughly 65 percent, while international student visas dropped around 40 percent following a combination of country bans, temporary processing freezes, and enforcement actions against student status.
The report also estimated that H‑1B visa issuances fell about 25 percent after new fees and restrictions were imposed on employers petitioning for workers abroad, leading to a sharp decline in applications.
Gordon told Newsweek that in order for Trump to achieve his goal of drastically reducing all immigration, the government had to "close legal as well as illegal avenues for entry to the U.S."
"The shutdown of the refugee program except for White Afrikaners; the undermining of the asylum system; the visa bans now affecting more than 90 countries, almost all of which are African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American; all of these policies further the current administration's aim to remake America as a white nation," she said.
John Mollenkopf, a professor of political science and sociology at the City University of New York, also told Newsweek this data was not surprising.
"Virtually every category of legal entry has been constrained as well as the prevention of unauthorized entry," he said, adding that it is also important to note that tourist visa visits, so visas permitting entrance to the U.S. for three months, have also fallen.
He said that the student visa limitations are "another front in the Trump administration’s war on higher education," and as a result some universities, which are highly reliant on international students, have been impacted.
"More broadly, scientific progress depends on ideas traveling across borders, often in the minds of people carrying them. Limiting such exchanges is against the national interest of the U.S.," he said.
"Our economy and labor force need more immigrants, not less," he added. "Given our aging society and falling birth rate, only immigration provides the needed workers who not only provide the goods and services, but pay into the social security system that older Americans rely upon."
Update 4/20/26, 2:06 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the White House.
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