• Over 1.6 million immigrants lost legal status in Trump's first 11 months back in office
• Terminated programs include TPS for 10 countries, CBP One app, and 85,000 visa revocations
• The figure likely undercounts total affected and exceeds Philadelphia's entire population

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — The Trump administration has stripped legal status from 1.6 million immigrants in 11 months, marking the largest removal of deportation protections for individuals who entered the United States through legal channels, according to data compiled by immigration advocates and federal agencies.

The staggering number includes people who applied for and were accepted to come to the country through various immigration programs, including parole programs, visas, asylum applications, and Temporary Protected Status designations, according to reporting from NPR. Immigration advocates say the figure is likely an undercount of the total number affected.

Termination Of TPS Protections

The Department of Homeland Security has ended Temporary Protected Status for 10 countries since January, affecting more than 675,000 people, according to Carolyn Tran, executive director of Communities United for Status and Protection. The terminated countries include Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Syria, South Sudan and Burma.

"There's nothing close to this. Like there's no president of either party who has said, 'Central to my effort is revoking the work authorization and legal status for millions of people,'" said Todd Schulte, president of immigration advocacy organization FWD.us.

Venezuelans and Haitians make up the majority of TPS recipients set to lose their protections, at nearly 935,000 people combined. As of March 31, there were 330,735 nationals of Haiti and approximately 605,000 Venezuelans with TPS, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.

The Trump administration argues that parole programs like TPS are meant to be only temporary, according to DHS statements. However, immigration advocates have pointed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's own comments denigrating conditions in countries like Afghanistan and Haiti as evidence that conditions have not actually improved sufficiently to justify the terminations.

CBP One App Shutdown Affects Nearly 1 Million

Another program that the Trump administration ended earlier this year is CBP One, a mobile app that allowed migrants to make appointments to seek asylum from inside the United States. From 2023 to January, more than 936,000 people were allowed in the country through the app, according to federal data.

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It remains unknown exactly how many people entered the United States through the app and were still waiting on legal permissions when it was canceled. In the spring, thousands of migrants who had entered through the app and awaited asylum appointments received messages to leave. Many who entered with the app ended up getting detained in courthouses or in their neighborhoods.

Grebi Suárez, a Venezuelan barber who entered the U.S. through CBP One in January right before Trump was inaugurated, told NPR that last week he finally received his work permit and Social Security number.

"But I'm anxious and scared because some of my friends have received emails from the government telling them to self-deport," Suárez said.

Visa Revocations And Diversity Lottery Pause

The State Department has revoked 85,000 visas of all categories since January, more than double the number pulled last year, according to a State Department official. The high number of revocations includes more than 8,000 student visas.

The department official said that offenses like driving under the influence, assaults and theft accounted for almost half of the revocations in the past year. The department has also pointed to visa expirations and support for terrorism in justifying some visa revocations.

Last week, Noem announced that the Trump administration would be pausing the diversity visa lottery program. The move came after authorities said the suspected gunman in the recent shootings at Brown University and the home of an MIT professor used the system to gain entry into the United States in 2017.

"The American taxpayer will no longer bear the financial burden of unlawfully present aliens," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said, in response to concerns about the administration making more people deportable.

How will the unprecedented removal of legal immigration protections affect communities across the United States?

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