Study: Trump Cut Bloated Legal Immigration By Bigger Numbers Than Illegal Crossings

The Federalist 

A new report from the Cato Institute shows Trump has not only delivered on illegal immigration — he’s delivering on legal immigration too.

“The cut to legal entries was 2.5 times as large” as the cut to illegal entries, David J. Bier wrote in his report, noting that illegal entries have also fallen under Trump. But “cuts in legal immigration broke the trend of rising legal immigration from 2021 to 2024.”

While the report counts asylum claims processed at official ports of entry as part of “legal” immigration and therefore inflates the “legal” category, the data still shows a sharp decline in traditional pathways used in mass migration.

The report shows that refugee admissions have dropped roughly 90 percent, with roughly 12,500 refugees having been admitted in late 2024 compared to just 1,300 admitted by March of 2026. Notably, the Trump administration has adopted a refugee admission policy that balances sustainability and cultural cohesion. Trump also capped refugee admissions to 7,500 per year, meaning only about 500 refugees can be admitted each month.

Asylum claims at legal ports of entry fell a whopping 99.9 percent after the president scrapped the CBP One App, according to the report. Put another way, there were around 40,000 asylum claims made in December of 2024, and just 26 made in February of 2025. Bier notes other aliens trying to enter at legal ports of entry (known as “inadmissible”) “also fell in 2025.”

The Trump administration has also cracked down on green cards, restricting targeted countries and paused the Diversity Visa lottery, according to Bier. As a result, permanent immigrant visas are down “by about half.” Bier estimates that the Trump administration’s decision to end immigrant visas for 40 different countries resulted in “one in five immigrant visa applicants” being denied.

“These bans affected half of all legal immigrants coming from abroad, including half of all spouses and minor children of US citizens,” Bier reported, noting that visa issuances for people from non-banned countries also did not increase.

H-1B visas are also down by roughly a quarter compared to 2024 levels. Notably, the president instituted a $100,000 fee, potentially deterring petitions. As Bier reports, the State Department has indicated that the new fee “led to an 87 percent decline in petitions for workers outside the United States.”

In addition, international student visas plunged by 40 percent in peak summer months year-over-year. When it comes to mass illegal migration, the president closed the southern border down and effectively ended releases into the interior, the report noted. “Gotaways” have also plummeted.

None of this is to say that more work can’t be done when it comes to immigration, with more deportations of illegal aliens being concern No. 1. But these numbers would have been unfathomable just two years ago — and completely impossible with a Democrat in office.