U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Thursday that it has carried out immigration enforcement actions to revoke or terminate the status of about 2.2 million “illegal aliens” since Jan. 20, 2025, a figure nearly seven times the total recorded in the final two years of the Biden administration.
Scale of the USCIS actions
The agency’s report combines several categories of administrative and enforcement measures. It notes that the administration has moved to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 1 million foreign nationals from 13 designated countries, a program that normally allows people to stay and work temporarily when conditions at home are unsafe.
USCIS has denied requests to extend or change non-immigrant status where it found no legal basis for granting them, issued Notices to Appear (NTAs) requiring certain foreign nationals to appear before an immigration judge in removal proceedings, and ended automatic extensions of certain Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs), making it necessary for affected applicants to undergo further checks before receiving renewed work authorisation.
Humanitarian parole and other programs
The administration has moved to end certain categorical parole programmes and return to case-by-case decisions. One such programme had allowed around 500,000 nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to travel to the US after receiving prior authorisation.
These measures have different legal consequences. For instance, an NTA initiates removal proceedings but does not itself mean that a person has been deported. Similarly, efforts to terminate TPS do not necessarily mean that every affected individual has already lost protection, particularly where court orders have intervened.
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Some of the measures, particularly those affecting humanitarian immigration programmes, are facing legal challenges. The number of people whose status has ultimately been terminated is not yet clear.
Distinction from deportations and visa revocations
The 2.2 million figure should not be confused with the number of people deported from the US. According to an ICE report cited in recent coverage, the agency deported around 421,182 people between October 2025 and August 24, 2026.
Separately, the White House said earlier in October that the administration had revoked more than 300,000 visas. This included around 4,000 visas linked to birth tourism and 6,000 held by foreign students who had committed crimes or had links to terrorism. These figures represent separate enforcement activities and should not be added to the USCIS total as though they were a single count of people who lost their immigration status.
Implications for Indian nationals
India is a major source of international students, skilled workers and employment-based visa applicants in the US. While the reported USCIS actions are concentrated in areas such as TPS and humanitarian parole, rather than being a count of Indian H-1B or Green Card holders who have lost status, the broader enforcement environment warrants attention.
Agency Responsibilities and Actions
USCIS handles immigration benefits and status-related decisions, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for immigration arrests, detention and removals. The State Department separately handles visa issuance and revocations.
