Since February 28, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has initiated removal proceedings against more than 26,700 individuals without legal authorization to remain in the United States, following new guidance on issuing Notices to Appear (NTAs).
The policy shift is part of President Donald Trump’s broader Executive Order Protecting the American People Against Invasion, aimed at strengthening enforcement of immigration laws to safeguard national security, public safety, and the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.
“This update has helped USCIS enforce existing immigration laws by once again issuing NTAs to removable aliens in the United States,” said USCIS Spokesman Matthew Tragesser. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, we have returned to commonsense NTA policies and since February 2025, have issued tens of thousands of NTAs to restore integrity and ensure the security of our nation’s immigration system.”
The revised NTA guidance reflects a return to a stricter immigration enforcement posture. USCIS is also collaborating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by providing volunteers to support its operations.
These enforcement efforts have led to an average of approximately 1,840 NTAs issued per week, including about 500 asylum-related NTAs weekly and 100 NTAs linked to Temporary Protected Status (TPS) cases each week. The policy has resulted in a 2,811% increase in fraud-related NTAs compared to figures during the previous Biden-Harris administration.
Under the new guidance, USCIS generally issues NTAs following unfavorable decisions on benefit requests for immigrants deemed removable. Prosecutorial discretion is applied only in limited cases. Importantly, the guidance does not alter NTA issuance procedures required by law for TPS or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.
Additionally, the termination of a nation’s TPS designation, such as Haiti, by the Secretary of Homeland Security may trigger NTA issuance for former TPS beneficiaries with no other valid status in the U.S. These individuals are encouraged to leave the country voluntarily and use the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app to report their departure.
