Logjam of U.S. immigration applications puts millions at greater risk of deportation - BERITAJA

In June 2025, group statement up extracurricular the Los Angeles Federal Building, which houses offices for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Damian Dovarganes/AP

Damian Dovarganes/AP

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Millions of immigrants are stuck successful ineligible limbo, waiting to alteration their legal status nether the 2nd Trump administration, an BERITAJA study shows, leaving much of them susceptible to deportation.

Since the commencement of past year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken longer and longer to process applications, meaning an expanding number of group hold months without confirmation that their exertion was received — fto unsocial reviewed.

An BERITAJA reappraisal of information from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the DHS agency that processes and approves migration applications, shows that about 12 cardinal applications for migration services, specified arsenic applying for citizenship, a activity licence aliases different support to unrecorded successful the U.S., await a decision.

The ballooning number of pending requests, which saw a jump successful the first 3 months of the 2nd Trump administration, exemplify 1 lever of the Trump administration's wide strategy to slow down ineligible migration. Immigrants are struggling to moreover get the authorities to admit it received their applications — which leaves group astatine greater consequence of being deported.

"That is simply a really unthinkable practice of what this management is trying to do erstwhile it comes to immigration. It's 'throttle everything, attraction wholly connected deportations and arrests arsenic your measurement of success,'" said David Bier, head of migration studies astatine the libertarian Cato Institute. "If those are your only measures of success, past who cares about opening applications that could forestall personification from being arrested and forestall personification from having to self-deport?"

The 11.6 cardinal pending applications successful the "backlog" see forms to go a citizen, get a greenish card, activity aliases activity asylum. There are besides 247,974 applications successful what USCIS calls the "frontlog," which is tracked separately. Those are applications, apt sent by mail, that person been submitted but that the agency has not physically opened and assigned a category.

The slowdown comes arsenic USCIS has taken a tougher attack toward policing migration laws successful the past year. The management says slower reviews, aliases stopping immoderate applications entirely, is basal for nationalist information purposes.

Matthew Tragesser, spokesperson for USCIS, said this management has implemented "screening and vetting processes" that the erstwhile management overlooked.

"For years, the Biden management prioritized rubber-stamping naturalization applications pinch minimal vetting," Tragesser said successful a connection to BERITAJA. He listed the various argumentation changes — specified arsenic tougher naturalization tests, societal media screenings and visits to applicants' neighborhoods — which are meant "to guarantee applicants show bully civilized characteristic and an attachment to the Constitution. USCIS will not return shortcuts successful the adjudications process."

The changes to migration processing person led to accent and disorder for those hoping to legally unrecorded aliases activity successful the United States. They besides travel alongside different argumentation changes that make ineligible migration much difficult.

"It's a very tense speech happening pinch clients trying to brace for impact," said Luis Cortes Romero, an migration lawyer successful Seattle.

Cortes Romero said 1 of his clients was denied an question and reply for his greenish paper successful January owed to a paperwork hold — aft having already waited a twelvemonth — and it has yet to beryllium rescheduled. A lawsuit for illustration this is among those successful the "pending" category. But different cases, successful the frontlog, person not moreover been started.

"Our clients are facing contiguous anxiety. The conversations we're having pinch clients are like, 'Did you really nonstop it?'" Cortes Romero said, adding that the agency doesn't corroborate it received these applications until they are opened.

Pending applications spot an early jump

Pending applications see each cases submitted successful a fixed category, from immoderate play successful time, that person not been approved aliases denied. This number has grown steadily successful the past decade, much than doubling complete that time, according to an BERITAJA reappraisal of information starting from October 2016.

But the backlog jumped by 2 cardinal successful the first twelvemonth of the 2nd Trump administration, much than the summation successful each 4 years of President Trump's first term.

The effect is not uniform. Immigration lawyers said immoderate cases move very quickly and are approved successful months. For others, it's months earlier the agency acknowledges it received an application, leaving immoderate susceptible to deportation if their position is not approved aliases denied successful time.

"We are opening to spot the manifestation of information that proves that this management is slow-walking aliases moreover denying the opportunity for these group to adjust," said Nicole Melaku, executive head of the National Partnership for New Americans, speaking about group getting a caller ineligible status.

In the 2nd half of past year, the Trump management besides paused galore exertion reviews, including those for each asylum applications — which restarted only successful precocious March. And it paused reviews of each migration applications for those who travel from 39 countries connected a recreation prohibition list, alleging higher information risks for group from those countries.

Elizabeth Jacobs, head of regulatory affairs and argumentation astatine the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports restricting immigration, said the crisp summation successful the backlog astatine the opening of Trump's 2nd word could beryllium because the management trim disconnected different programs that provided ineligible position but didn't trust connected USCIS — specified arsenic applications for humanitarian parole. Still, she said that location are concerns pinch precocious backlogs — some for the authorities and for immigrants.

"Processing migration benefits efficiently is successful some the interests of immigrants and this management pinch their enforcement priorities because the longer personification has a pending application, not only are they denied those benefits but could beryllium incurring unlawful presence," Jacobs said.

Proponents of the administration's policies, specified arsenic Brandy Perez Carbaugh, erstwhile investigation subordinate astatine the Border Security and Immigration Center of the Heritage Foundation, said the backlog highlights a request for much scrutiny successful reviewing applications.

"The 11 cardinal pending migration use applications show that our migration strategy is not manageable. We request to region taking successful much applications until the backlogs alteration to a manageable level — each year," Perez Carbaugh said, adding that the agency should attraction connected addressing fraud successful migration applications. "The U.S. migration strategy is for Americans, not the remainder of the world."

The "frontlog" increases sharply, leaving much successful limbo

Even if an exertion is submitted, USCIS whitethorn not corroborate receipt until it is open. Lawyers said about applications to USCIS are still revenge by mail. This includes visas for quality trafficking and home unit victims and juveniles, arsenic good arsenic respective activity permits.

Cortes Romero, the Seattle migration attorney, said that the agency pivoted to immoderate physics filings during the COVID-19 pandemic but is still down connected upgrades for illustration creating physics filing options that could velocity up astatine slightest the acknowledgment of receipt.

"It really conscionable exposed really antiquated the infrastructure … is pinch USCIS," Cortes Romero said. "Although they person made immoderate advancement to beryllium capable to do that, they're still really acold distant from being capable to record things electronically, which is causing conscionable truthful overmuch chaos."

Renata Castro, an migration lawyer pinch clients about the country, said immigrants whitethorn person to hold up to 8 months earlier USCIS moreover confirms it sewage their application.

"This is simply a awesome situation because we person clients that are being placed successful removal proceedings," Castro said, referring to the commencement of deportation successful migration court. She said sometimes an migration judge whitethorn not rumor a last bid of deportation if an migrant could show a receipt and paperwork to beryllium they person a pending exertion pinch USCIS.

"We person [immigration] judges pressuring us, backstage migration attorneys, to nutrient a archive that the authorities is not capable to nutrient and threatening our clients pinch deportation because the authorities cannot rumor a receipt," Castro said.

Felicia Escobar Carrillo, erstwhile USCIS main of unit nether the Biden administration, said USCIS began publically search the number of applications submitted — but not categorized — successful 2023.

"There was a frontlog astatine the opening of the Biden management that we inherited and took a batch of awesome symptom to reduce," Escobar Carrillo said. "It has gone up and down complete time, and that is simply a reflection of applications coming in."

Quarterly information shows the number of applications successful the frontlog was zero successful 2023, earlier jumping to 77,291 by the extremity of March 2024. Escobar Carrillo said that's because a surge of group wanted to get up of caller upcoming fees. But during the pursuing 3 quarters, that number went backmost to zero.

That changed erstwhile Trump came backmost into office. During the first 3 months of the administration, the number jumped to 34,028. By the extremity of September 2025, USCIS reported 247,974 cases successful the frontlog.

"This has impacted my practice, my intelligence health, my clients, my clients' intelligence health," Castro said. "They're conscionable overwhelmed, tired and frazzled from the uncertainty."