At six in the morning, while his coffee heats up, Luis checks his phone. He has an immigration court hearing in December and a work permit to renew. The headline jumping on his screen says more than three million migrants have left the United States. He freezes for a second: “Does that include me?”
He is not the only one wondering. This Wednesday, October 21, the White House published its most complete immigration scorecard to date — a statement titled “How President Trump Ended the Border Invasion and Restored American Sovereignty” — and the numbers are huge: according to the government, more than three million migrants left the country since Trump returned to the presidency in January 2025.
Here is what the official statement claims, the fine print worth reading calmly, and what actually changes — or doesn’t — for your case.
What the White House says, number by number
All of these figures come from the statement published today on whitehouse.gov:
- 3 million departures: “more than three million migrants” left the country during the second term, and the population of people living without legal status fell by at least 2.3 million — the largest reduction “in modern history,” the statement says.
- 1.2 million deported or removed and 1.3 million arrests by immigration authorities.
- Negative net migration in 2025: for the first time in at least 50 years, more people left than entered, according to the government.
- Border at historic lows: illegal crossings at the southern border fell 95% compared to the Biden era; in fiscal year 2026 there were fewer than 380,000 nationwide immigration encounters (versus about 2.7 million per year under Biden) and zero Border Patrol releases — the first fiscal year in history with that result, according to the statement.
- Tougher asylum: asylum-seeker entries through ports on the Mexican border collapsed 99.9%, and only 7% of cases are granted asylum, down from more than 50% before.
- Smaller court backlog: pending cases in immigration courts fell from more than 4.18 million to under 3.09 million.
- Operations: more than 12,100 gang members arrested, including more than 1,500 Tren de Aragua members and nearly 2,000 MS-13 members, plus more than 2,200 people identified as known or suspected terrorists (over 2,000 already removed).
The fine print you should read
One thing no headline can take for granted: these are the figures from the administration itself. The statement comes with no independent audit. The news agencies that covered the announcement this Wednesday repeat the numbers exactly as the White House presented them and warn of the same: these are government claims, not data verified by an outside source.
That does not automatically make them false — several match figures the DHS had already published, such as the 98,708 arrests at the southern border in fiscal year 2026 and the zero releases — but it means they should be read with that caution, not as a count confirmed by an independent body.
Who this affects and who it doesn’t
A scorecard like this scares people, and it’s worth clarifying who is outside its direct impact:
- It does not affect you if you have legal status: citizens, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), current TPS holders, approved asylees, or people with a valid work permit are not part of these deportation figures.
- You should review your case if: you have a final order of removal, you are in proceedings in immigration court, your asylum application is still pending, or your work permit is about to expire — remember that the automatic 540-day extension has already been eliminated.
What to do today, in order
- Know your exact case. Check your next hearing in the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) system with your A-number, and your case status on the USCIS website.
- Do not leave the country on your own if you have a pending case. A voluntary departure without legal advice can become a 10-year bar on returning.
- Do not ignore a court order. If the court has already issued a final order of removal, now is the time to find an immigration attorney.
- Renew your work permit on time. Without the automatic extension, if your card expires before the renewal is approved, you must stop working.
- Keep everything. Documents, USCIS receipts, court letters: in an aggressive enforcement environment, your file is your defense.
More news: U.S. news in English
Related:
- U.S. has already revoked 300,000+ visas: why yours can be taken and how to protect it
- 22 attorneys general challenge warrantless immigrant arrests: what the law requires and what to do if detained
Official sources
- White House, “How President Trump Ended the Border Invasion and Restored American Sovereignty” (Oct 21, 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/10/how-president-trump-ended-the-border-invasion-and-restored-american-sovereignty/
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), October 16, 2026: “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS Announces Lowest Fiscal Year Border Crossings in American History” — https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/10/16/under-president-trump-and-secretary-mullin-dhs-announces-lowest-fiscal-year-border
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