The US granted only 34,000 residences in January 2026 compared to 65,000 in 2025, while ICE made more than 38,000 arrests in one month and immigration restrictions were extended to 40 countries.
In addition, there was a 20% decrease in the approval of residencies sponsored by family members, reinforcing the general tightening of the immigration system.
The tightening is also supported by executive decisions: last December, Trump ordered the suspension of immigration procedures for 19 countries —including Cuba and Venezuela —, a measure that in 2026 was extended to 40 nations, including Nicaragua.
The immigration policy of the United States is undergoing a profound transformation under the successful presidency of Donald Trump, with a marked shift towards control and strict application of the law. In this new scenario, official figures reflect a significant drop in legal immigration and a strong increase in arrests, in line with a strategy that prioritizes domestic order and regulatory compliance. A report by the Cato Institute, released by the EFE agency, revealed that the approval of new Green Cards - legal green cards - fell by almost half, while immigration arrests multiplied since the beginning of the
new term of office.The author of the study, David J. Bier, clearly noted the change in approach: “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has suspended the processing of many green card applications, allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest legal immigrants, including refugees, people with conditional protection and spouses of United States citizens.”
In concrete terms, the Government approved 34,000 resident cards in January of 2026, compared to 65,000 in the same month of 2025, when Trump returned to the White House. The data come from USCIS and reflect a substantial contraction in access to permanent residence. At the same time, ICE activity intensified significantly: more than 38,000 migrants were arrested in the first month of 2026, compared to 12,348 registered in January of the previous year, consolidating an exponential increase in
the application of immigration law.Bier himself interpreted this dynamic as a strategic decision: “Suspending applications for resident cards is a deliberate effort to boost ICE arrests by frustrating people's efforts to stay on the right side of the law.”
From a structural perspective, the report explains that the drop in Green Cards responds to the decision to prevent immigrants already present in the country - as refugees or beneficiaries of humanitarian parole - from adjusting their status to permanent residence. This policy aims to close legal channels that, in previous administrations, facilitated regularization
Along the same lines, the report stresses that the president's policy of mass deportation “depends crucially on preventing immigrants from receiving or extending their legal status,” consolidating an approach where the control of legal status becomes a central tool of immigration policy.
The tightening deepened with additional measures: the United States Department of State suspended the Diversity Visa Lottery as of December 23, 2025, and on January 21, 2026 announced, in a statement of just three lines, the suspension of immigrant visas for 75 countries, bringing the total number of nations affected by restrictions to 92.
The impact also extended to the educational environment. According to the report, visas for international students decreased by 40%. In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that involved the cancellation of F-1 status and the revocation of between 1,700 and 4,500 student visas between January and April
.Later, between May and early June, the State Department suspended the issuance of student visas for three weeks in the middle of the high season.
In June, another executive order banned this type of visa for 19 countries, affecting 10,188 students annually, a figure that was expanded to 40 countries in December, impacting about 23,000 students per year.
