DHS strengthens oversight of the immigration system

Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Director Joseph Edlow United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have taken significant steps to restore sanity and integrity to the country’s immigration system. Since 20/01/2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has closed loopholes and implemented necessary changes to better protect American communities and workers.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesperson Matthew Tragesser stated.

“The distinction between legal and illegal immigration becomes meaningless when both can destroy a nation from its foundation. Unchecked mass migration floods the U.S. labour market, suppresses wages and takes jobs from hardworking Americans, while straining the healthcare, education and housing systems. The Trump administration continues to enforce policies to ensure legal immigration prioritises American interests first and only the most deserving achieve the privilege of U.S. citizenship.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is ending abuse through categorical parole and abuse of Temporary Protected Status. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is returning to the faithful application of the law by ensuring the granting of parole and Temporary Protected Status is as Congress intended.

Temporary Protected Status is now truly temporary, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has terminated categorical parole programmes such as the parole programme for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Parole requests are now strictly reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Secretary Noem has terminated Temporary Protected Status for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nepal, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua (extended in 2023 and designated in 2021), Syria and South Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals without legal status in the country have been encouraged to use the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) CBP One app to depart the United States.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is implementing rigorous screening and vetting procedures and actively assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other law enforcement partners to enforce immigration law and protect public safety.

Since 20/01/2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has transferred nearly 3,200 individuals with active deportation orders, active warrants/wanted notices and other criminal indicators to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other law enforcement agencies, resulting in the arrest of nearly 2,000 criminals and illegal aliens at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) facilities since 20/01/2025.

Additionally, since 20/01/2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made 13,225 referrals to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) related to fraud, public safety and national security concerns, including 320 cases involving confirmed or suspected members of Foreign Terrorist Organisations.

Press releases highlighting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) involvement in arrests and convictions can be found in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Newsroom.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) led the largest fraud investigation in the agency’s history, Operation Twin Shield, a targeted enforcement operation in the Minneapolis area that uncovered marriage fraud, H-1B visa and student visa abuse, and a foreign national with terrorist ties in September.

Also in September, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) partnered with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies to dismantle a multi-million dollar asylum fraud, human trafficking and money laundering scheme.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reviewing the use of social media and other statements by foreign nationals regarding anti-American ideologies to determine whether they support, incite, promote, or assist in anti-American activities, and is considering this as a negative factor in any discretionary analysis by USCIS when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.

In fiscal year 2025, USCIS completed 12,502 individual social media checks.

USCIS is recruiting Patriots and implementing new law enforcement authorities to restore integrity to the immigration system.

USCIS launched a large-scale recruitment campaign on 30 September and received nearly 35,000 applications—the highest number for any position in the agency’s history. These dedicated patriots will carry out the agency’s critical mission to administer the country’s lawful immigration system while protecting the nation from fraud and national security or public safety threats.

USCIS has also received law enforcement authorities delegated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. With these new authorities, USCIS special agents will be granted additional power to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those who violate U.S. immigration laws, pursuant to the final rule published in September 2025.

USCIS is restoring integrity to the naturalisation process by ensuring that only those who are truly deserving are granted the most sacred status we can bestow: U.S. citizenship.

USCIS is committed to fully vetting every foreign national and implementing a process that the American people can trust. We launched a revised citizenship test with more questions in October to ensure that naturalisation applicants have a full understanding of U.S. history and government before they can become U.S. citizens.

USCIS has also refocused how it reviews the good moral character of potential citizens, looking for positive contributions to our communities rather than just the absence of bad behaviour. We have restored the practice of conducting neighbourhood investigations for potential new citizens to verify their claims and ensure we have a full picture of their character.

USCIS has returned to a sound policy for issuing Notices to Appear (NTA), and since February 2025 has issued more than 172,000 Notices to Appear (NTA) to restore integrity and ensure the security of the country’s immigration system. The agency is committed to using its Notice to Appear (NTA) authority against removable foreign nationals and will no longer exempt specific classes or categories from potential enforcement.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a final rule temporarily ending the practice of automatically extending employment authorisation documents for foreign nationals filing for renewals in certain employment authorisation categories. With this rule, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is prioritising proper screening and vetting of foreign nationals before extending the validity of their employment authorisation.

USCIS is helping to protect the country’s election process by reforming the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) in cooperation with the Social Security Administration to ensure a single, reliable source for verifying immigration status and U.S. citizenship nationwide.

State and local agencies can now enter full Social Security numbers or just the last four digits to help verify U.S. citizenship and prevent foreign nationals from voting in U.S. elections.

We have also eliminated fees for participating state, local, territorial, and tribal government users; simplified bulk foreign national status checks; and integrated criminal records, immigration timelines, and addresses into the results. Since implementing these changes, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system has processed more than 46 million voter verification queries.

USCIS is ensuring that foreign nationals do not become a burden on the government and has issued a policy memorandum affirming that USCIS officers can once again be granted full authority to exercise their right to exclude any foreign national who is likely to become a public charge at any time.

USCIS is committed to the core principle of U.S. immigration law after years of neglect. Guidance reminds foreign nationals that they bear the burden of proving that they are not likely to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence at any time.

USCIS is doing its part to protect American workers by implementing the Presidential Proclamation, Suspension of Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, an important first step to reforming the programme. visa H-1B.

Under the Proclamation, as of 21 September, H-1B applications must be accompanied by an additional payment of US$100,000 as a condition of eligibility.