In June 2025, people lined up outside 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
Millions of immigrants are stuck in legal limbo as delays in processing immigration applications have surged under the second Trump administration, an NPR analysis shows — leaving many more vulnerable to deportation.
Since early last year, the Department of Homeland Security has taken increasingly long to process applications, producing a growing backlog in which people can wait months without confirmation that their paperwork was even received. NPR reviewed USCIS data and found roughly 11.6 million pending immigration applications — requests for citizenship, green cards, work permits and other immigration benefits that have not been approved or denied. Separately, USCIS reports 247,974 cases in a “frontlog” of submitted applications that have not yet been opened and assigned.
Advocates say the ballooning numbers reflect an intentional strategy to slow legal migration: throttle application processing while emphasizing arrests and deportations. David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, said the approach appears to prioritize enforcement metrics over resolving applications that could protect people from removal.
USCIS officials say new or reinstated screening and vetting measures account for slower adjudications. Matthew Tragesser, a USCIS spokesman, said the agency has implemented social media screening, tougher naturalization testing and neighborhood visits intended to ensure applicants show moral character and attachment to the Constitution. “USCIS will not take shortcuts in the adjudications process,” he said.
Immigration attorneys and advocates describe widespread confusion and stress as clients wait for basic acknowledgments that applications were received. Seattle lawyer Luis Cortes Romero recounted clients whose green card interviews were canceled because applications hadn’t been processed, even after a year of waiting. He said many people wonder, “Did you really send it?” because USCIS often does not confirm receipt until it opens a file.
Pending applications, which include all active cases across time that have not been resolved, have been rising for a decade, more than doubling since 2016. But the backlog jumped by roughly 2 million in the first year after Trump’s return to the presidency — a bigger increase than during all four years of his first term combined. The effect is uneven: some case types still move quickly, while others stall long enough to expose people to removal proceedings.
Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, said the data show the administration is “slow-walking or even denying the opportunity for these people to adjust,” preventing people from obtaining status that could shield them from deportation.
The administration paused many categories of application review in the second half of last year, including asylum cases (which resumed only in late March) and all applications from people originating in 39 countries on a travel ban list, citing security concerns. Those pauses, plus other policy changes, contributed to the growing backlog.
Some observers argue the surge in pending cases may also reflect the elimination of alternative pathways to legal status that previously avoided USCIS, such as some humanitarian parole programs. Elizabeth Jacobs of the Center for Immigration Studies said high backlogs are a problem for both the government and immigrants, noting that prolonged pending status can lead to unlawful presence and other consequences.
Supporters of tougher review say the backlog underscores the need for more scrutiny and even pausing intake until current caseloads are manageable. Brandy Perez Carbaugh, formerly of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, called for stricter fraud prevention and said the system should serve Americans’ interests.
The frontlog — applications submitted but not yet opened or categorized — has increased sharply, adding to the uncertainty. Many filings are still mailed in, including applications for trafficking and domestic violence victims, juvenile cases, and several work-authorized categories. USCIS began publicly tracking the frontlog in 2023; quarterly data show it was zero in 2023, rose to 77,291 by March 2024 as people rushed to beat new fee increases, then fell back to zero later that year. After the change in administration, the frontlog climbed again: 34,028 in the first three months and 247,974 by the end of September 2025.
Lawyers say antiquated filing systems and slow adoption of electronic submissions exacerbate the problem. Cortes Romero said the pandemic prompted some digital shifts but that USCIS still lacks robust electronic filing and acknowledgment systems that would at least let applicants know their paperwork arrived.
Renata Castro, an immigration attorney with clients nationwide, said some people wait up to eight months just for USCIS to confirm receipt. That delay can be critical in removal proceedings: immigration judges sometimes hold off on issuing final deportation orders if an immigrant can show a receipt and evidence of a pending application. But when the government cannot produce a receipt because the case hasn’t been opened, judges may pressure attorneys and threaten deportation.
Felicia Escobar Carrillo, former USCIS chief of staff under the Biden administration, noted the agency has seen frontlogs fluctuate with application surges and administrative changes. She said the frontlog that existed in early Biden years was reduced through deliberate work, and that numbers shift as applications come in.
Attorneys describe the human toll: clients overwhelmed, exhausted and anxious from prolonged uncertainty. The administration maintains the changes are necessary for national security and integrity of the immigration system, while critics say the resulting delays and pauses increase deportation risk for people who would otherwise obtain lawful status.