USCIS Says It Took 2.2 Million Enforcement Actions Since January 2025: What the Number Covers

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), known in Spanish as the Servicio de Ciudadanía e Inmigración de los Estados Unidos, says it has carried out about 2.2 million enforcement actions to revoke or terminate immigration status since Jan. 20, 2025. The Department of Homeland Security announced the figure on Thursday, Oct. 29, describing it as nearly seven times the number of comparable actions taken during the final two years of the Biden administration.

The number is large, but it is not a count of deportations, and it does not necessarily mean 2.2 million people have already lost their legal status. Here’s what the agency says is included and what remains unclear.

What USCIS announced

In its release, DHS said that “since January 20, 2025, USCIS has carried out immigration enforcement actions to revoke or terminate the status of approximately 2.2 million illegal aliens.” The department said those actions come on top of visa revocations and denials by the State Department and removals carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in the statement that “these numbers reflect the scale of that commitment,” referring to President Donald Trump’s pledge to enforce immigration laws. “Securing our border was only the beginning,” Mullin said.

What the 2.2 million figure includes

According to DHS, the total combines several different kinds of actions:

• Temporary Protected Status (TPS): ending what the agency calls the “misuse” of TPS. Business Standard reported the administration has moved to end TPS for more than 1 million people from 13 countries, and that some of those terminations are being challenged in court.
• Status denials: denying applications to extend or change nonimmigrant status when, in the agency’s view, no legal basis exists.
• Notices to Appear (NTAs): documents that place people into removal proceedings before an immigration judge.
• Work permits: ending the automatic extension of employment authorization documents (EADs), so renewals require fresh screening before approval.
• Humanitarian parole: terminating categorical parole programs and returning to case-by-case review. One such program had allowed roughly 500,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to travel to the U.S., Business Standard noted.

What the number does not mean

These categories carry very different legal consequences. A Notice to Appear starts a court case but is not itself a deportation. A move to end TPS for a country does not mean every affected person has already lost protection, especially where courts have stepped in. Business Standard reported that the number of people whose status has actually been terminated is not yet clear.

The figure also shouldn’t be added to other enforcement statistics. USCIS handles benefits and status decisions, ICE handles arrests and removals, and the State Department handles visas. Business Standard, citing an ICE report, said that agency deported about 421,182 people between October 2025 and Aug. 24, 2026, a separate count.

A changing role for USCIS

USCIS has traditionally been seen as the benefits side of the immigration system, processing green cards, naturalization and work permits. Immigration law professor Kit Johnson, writing on the ImmigrationProf Blog, said the agency has been moving away from its role as “the friendly service arm of DHS” since the first Trump administration, and called the new statement “quite the cherry on top.” The DHS release itself frames the agency’s work around screening, vetting and starting removal cases.

What applicants should keep in mind

For people with pending cases, the practical advice in coverage of the announcement is straightforward: track the expiration dates of your status and work permit, don’t assume a filed renewal automatically lets you keep working, and respond to any USCIS notice by its deadline. Anyone who receives an NTA or a notice proposing to end a benefit may want to talk to a qualified immigration attorney or accredited representative.

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