DHS Cracks Down on Visa Abuse as Trump Administration Ends Border Crisis and Drives Historic Drop in Foreign-Born Population
In January, there were 53.3 million immigrants in the country, which dipped to 51.9 million in June, the first decline since the 1960s, according to Pew.
Under the Trump administration, the United States has registered the “first decline in the foreign-born U.S. population in more than 50 years,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Nov. 14 statement.
“Thanks to aggressive enforcement, streamlined deportation protocols, and the restoration of real border security, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens have been deported and over 2 million more have self-deported rather than face certain removal,” DHS said.
“And this is only the beginning: the first wave of newly trained ICE agents is beginning to deploy, expanding the administration’s ability to sustain record-high enforcement levels into 2025 and beyond.”
DHS did not give an exact number for the population decline.
An Aug. 21 report from the Pew Research Center had assessed that the foreign-born population in the country fell by almost 1.5 million individuals between January and June this year. This includes illegal immigrants and residents living lawfully in the United States.
In January, there were 53.3 million immigrants in the country, which dipped to 51.9 million in June. Pew said this was the first decline in the U.S. immigrant population since the 1960s.
According to the report, 15.4 percent of all American residents were foreign-born, down from the historic high of 15.8 percent. It highlighted that an “unprecedented number of immigrants,” amounting to roughly 11 million, entered the United States between 2020 and 2025.
Exploitation of the Immigration System
In its latest statement, DHS said the Trump administration was restoring integrity to America’s visa system, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) intensifying scrutiny of visa programs.
“Under the Trump administration, USCIS has restored robust screening and vetting capabilities, re-emphasized fraud detection and deterrence, and reduced exploitation of the immigration system through humanitarian and Temporary Protected Status programs, including significant achievements in just the past three months alone,” DHS said.
In August, USCIS said it would consider anti-American activities as a factor when assessing immigrants, including involvement in terror organizations or promotion of anti-semitic ideologies.
“America’s benefits should not be given to those who despise the country and promote anti-American ideologies,” USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said at the time.
“Immigration benefits—including to live and work in the United States—remain a privilege, not a right.”
In October, DHS announced a final rule ending the practice of automatically extending employment authorization documents for immigrants who file renewal applications in certain employment categories.
With the update, DHS will prioritize the “proper screening and vetting” of all immigrants prior to extending their employment authorization, the agency said.
In its latest statement, DHS said that the Trump administration has done what no modern American president has ever attempted—ending the border crisis and restoring control of the nation’s immigration system.
“President [Donald] Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem said we’d secure the border, enforce our laws, reinstate integrity into our immigration system, and protect American jobs, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“The era of mass illegal migration, open borders, and visa abuse is over. The American people finally have a government that enforces the law, not one that apologizes for it.”
