For the first time in more than half a century, the United States is witnessing a dramatic shift in its immigration landscape. In the months following President Donald Trump’s return to office, the immigrant population in the U.S. has declined—a reversal not seen since the 1960s, according to the Pew Research Center. This decline, coupled with sweeping policy changes targeting both new arrivals and long-settled immigrants, is reshaping the lives of millions and sparking fierce debate over the nation’s obligations and priorities.
Pew’s latest data reveals that the U.S. immigrant population peaked at 53.3 million in January 2025, only to shrink by 2.6% to 51.9 million by June. That’s 1.4 million fewer immigrants living in the country within just a few months—a striking turnaround after years of steady growth. Mark Hugo Lopez, director of race and ethnicity research at Pew, told reporters, “There are a number of possible reasons from the natural ebb and flow of immigrants, but also policy, which has made it harder to cross the border and also increased enforcement in the U.S., all of which could be shaping the immigrant population and whether or not it grows or declines.”
These numbers come against a backdrop of major legislative and executive action. On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed a sweeping domestic policy law that, among other measures, denies most refugees and asylees legal entry to the United States eligibility for food stamps—known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). For many, this change has been devastating. Take B., a Cameroonian asylee who fled imprisonment and persecution in his homeland because of his sexual orientation. After years of waiting, B. was granted asylum in late 2024 and finally became eligible for SNAP. “While not having income, it was very helpful,” B. told Stateline. “I’m somebody who if I can work, I will work. The only reason I went over there to ask is because I had nowhere else to go.”
The new law means that most refugees and asylees, even those who entered the country legally, are now ineligible for SNAP. This change affects tens of thousands across the country, especially in states like Texas, New York, California, and Pennsylvania, which together resettled half of all admitted refugees in 2023. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 60,050 people were newly admitted as refugees that year, many fleeing violence and instability in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, asylum applications have soared—from 68,000 in 2013 to at least 747,000 in 2023, with applicants hailing from Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia, among others.
Supporters of the SNAP restrictions, like Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies, argue that refugees and asylees have access to work permits and support from sponsoring organizations. “They really should be moving forward towards self-sufficiency with support right out of the starting gate,” Vaughan said. She also pointed to federal grant programs that reimburse states and nonprofits for aid provided to refugees. Robert Rector of The Heritage Foundation echoed this, noting that states can choose to fund food assistance for refugees if they wish—“They just have to do it with state money right now.”
But critics say the reality on the ground is far more complex. Many refugees wait years for green cards, which unlock broader benefits, and the organizations meant to help them are often overwhelmed. “SNAP is an incredibly fundamental program for this population that comes to the United States, really, with very little, if anything,” Nicolas Palazzo of HIAS told Stateline. “Stripping critical food assistance forces refugees and asylees into the shadows of informal work, labor exploitation and hunger that weakens our workforce and denigrates our moral obligations.” Sherri Laigle, director of social services at HIAS, added that food banks are already stretched thin and cannot fully compensate for the loss of SNAP benefits. “Of course, there’s limited access to them. You have to have transportation. You have to be able to get there.”
The new law introduces another major shift: starting in fiscal year 2028, states will be required to pay between 5% and 15% of their SNAP costs, depending on how accurately they administer the program. This shift from federal to state responsibility is expected to put additional strain on state budgets, especially in places like New York, which currently offers asylum-seekers $180 a month in cash assistance through its Safety Net Assistance Program, typically requiring recipients to be working. Barbara Guinn, commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, estimated that around 41,000 people in the state are receiving SNAP benefits while not being lawful permanent residents—a group now at risk of losing support. “The concerning part there is that these are individuals who were … lawfully admitted to the country, have previously been eligible for SNAP when they need it, and now, simply because of their status, will no longer be able to receive SNAP benefits,” Guinn said.
The impact is national in scope. As of July 2025, Texas had approximately 24,600 refugees or asylees receiving SNAP benefits out of 3.5 million recipients statewide. In Maryland, more than 10,000 refugees and asylees were supported by SNAP in 2024. California projects that 74,000 noncitizens—including lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees—will lose eligibility under the new law.
These policy changes come amid a broader crackdown on immigration. In the first 100 days of Trump’s second term, the administration took over 100 executive actions on immigration, focusing on blocking new migrants and refugees, stripping protections, and deporting unauthorized immigrants. The administration has rescinded deportation protections and work permits for about 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who entered legally. California, with its 11.3 million immigrants (2.3 million unauthorized), has become ground zero for enforcement, with high-profile raids and legal challenges targeting state-level protections.
Notably, the unauthorized immigrant population hit a record high of 14 million in 2023, according to Pew, even as overall immigration numbers fell. About 40% of unauthorized immigrants—roughly 6 million people—have some form of temporary protection from deportation, with some also holding work permits. But those protections are increasingly precarious under new federal policies.
The composition of the immigrant population is also shifting. While nearly half (46%) of immigrants were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2023, with another quarter as lawful permanent residents, the share arriving from South America and Europe is growing, while arrivals from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are declining. Between 2021 and 2023, the top countries of origin for new arrivals were Mexico, India, Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia.
Enforcement has intensified at the border and within the country. Arrests of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border plummeted from about 96,000 in December 2024 to just under 8,000 in July 2025. The Trump administration has leaned on military and surveillance technology to reinforce the border and moved agents to focus on the interior, resulting in aggressive detentions and deportations—even removing people to countries where they have never lived.
For individuals like B. and thousands of others, these changes are more than numbers and policies—they are daily realities that shape whether families eat, work, and live in safety. “There are people who are in need. I think ignoring that—it’s not human,” B. said. As the nation’s immigration debate intensifies, the human stories behind the statistics remind us what’s at stake for communities across the country.
