State of Immigration in Numbers
Immigration issues were front and center in 2025. Refugee admissions and border crossing attempts decreased in fiscal year (FY) 2025 compared to 2024. Meanwhile, the number of people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention was higher in December 2025 than in December 2024. President Trump’s policy proposals suggest these trends could continue.
Other data in this section has not been updated at the source beyond 2024, and so cannot shed light on more recent policy changes. In FY 2024, the number of new immigrant arrivals was down from a year prior, but it was still at the second-highest level since at least 1997. ICE and US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) repatriated over 677,000 noncitizens as of November 2024. The latter data source has been marked “under review” since January 2025.
The basics
2.8M
>99%
86%
Let's talk about the immigrant population
Authorized immigration decreased from FY 2023 to FY 2024, after increasing each of the previous three years. Refugees comprise a relatively small share of all authorized immigrants and their numbers sharply declined in the 2025 calendar year.
In FY 2024, there were 2.8 million new authorized immigrant arrivals to the US. This was down 2.6% from 2.9 million in FY 2023.
In FY 2024, 2.8 million immigrants arrived in the US.
Number of new immigrant arrivals to the US
Of the 2.8 million authorized immigrants coming to the US in FY 2024, over 983,000 (35%) came from India and Mexico. Immigrants from these countries outnumber those from Europe, South America, and Africa combined.
Around 35% of new immigrants were from either Mexico or India in FY 2024.
Regions or countries of origin for new immigrants (FY 2024)
The number of refugees admitted to the US declined after the Trump administration lowered the refugee ceiling and limited refugee admissions to a case-by-case basis. An average of 9,000 refugees were admitted monthly between January 2024 to January 2025. From February to December 2025, there were 1,226 total admissions, 1,059 of whom were from South Africa.
The number of refugees admitted to the US dropped sharply in 2025.
Refugee admissions by month
How many people apply for asylum?
The total number of FY 2025 asylum applications is not yet known, but they were on track to be at least the second-highest on record.
There were 872,000 defensive applications for asylum in FY 2025. This was down 4% from the historical high in FY 2024. As of Q3 FY 2025, the country was on track to have more affirmative asylum applications in FY 2025 than FY 2024. (Complete application data for FY 2025 is not yet available.) The Trump administration announced an indefinite pause on processing all pending asylum applications in December 2025.
There were 872,000 defensive applications for asylum in FY 2025.
Number of asylum applications received, by type of application
What about unauthorized entry into the US and immigration enforcement actions?
Noncitizens who enter the US through unauthorized channels may be subject to apprehension, administrative arrest, and removal from the country. In 2025, apprehensions at the US-Mexico border hit the lowest level ever recorded, and the number of people in ICE detention was higher in each month of 2025 compared to the same month in 2024. Regarding repatriations by ICE and CBP, the latest data available is from November 2024 and shows that around 677,000 noncitizens were repatriated by that point in the year.
In December 2025, there were 6,478 apprehensions of individuals attempting to cross the US-Mexican border, down 86% from a year prior. In each month of 2025 (except for January), USBP detected between 4,500 to 8,800 illegal border crossing attempts — all fewer than in any month previously recorded since at least September 2000.
Apprehensions at the US-Mexico border were down 86% between December 2024 to December 2025.
Apprehensions by USBP between official ports of entry
Around 4% of all US border apprehensions in FY 2025 involved noncitizens previously convicted of a crime (whether in the US or elsewhere). Convictions for illegal entry or re-entry into the US were the most common. Around 8,800 noncitizens with criminal histories were apprehended in FY 2025; they had around 11,200 convictions among them.
The most common conviction among apprehended noncitizens was related to illegal entry or re-entry to the US.
Convictions held by apprehended noncitizens with prior criminal histories (FY 2025)
There were 70,805 people in ICE detention as of December 31, 2025. That is 74% higher from one year prior. There were 212 active detention centers at the end of 2025 — more than double the amount at the beginning of the year.
There were 70,805 people in ICE detention at the end of 2025.
ICE detainee population, July 2020–December 2025
There were 677,730 repatriations from January to November 2024, which is the sum of removals (311,990) and returns (365,740). This is the latest data available on total repatriations, as the Office of Homeland Security Statistics has marked this report “under review” since January 2025.
There were 677,730 repatriations from January to November 2024.
Annual repatriations, by component
Repatriations are executed by both ICE and CBP. While CBP repatriations data is not available beyond November 2024, it is available for ICE. ICE repatriated 319,980 individuals in FY 2025 (Oct 2024–Sep 2025); that was an 18% increase from FY 2024. Between October 2025 and January 2026, ICE removed 144,378 individuals; on pace to reach over 430,000 total removals by the end of FY 2026.
