What were the total immigrant entry numbers in the US from 2017 to 2020 under the Trump administration?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive Summary
The available material does not supply a single, authoritative tally of total immigrant entries to the United States from 2017 through 2020; instead, it offers fragmentary indicators of declines in legal immigration and an exceptional drop in mid‑2020 tied to the pandemic and policy changes. The records cited point to a multi‑year reduction in lawful permanent resident admissions compared with 2016, and an unprecedented half‑year collapse in arrivals in FY2020’s second half, but they do not permit construction of a complete 2017–2020 aggregate from the documents provided [1] [2].
1. What claimants say — shrinking legal immigration under Trump
Advocates and analysts documented a measurable fall in lawful permanent resident (LPR) admissions early in the Trump years, with a reported decline from 1,183,505 LPRs in 2016 to 1,096,611 in 2018, representing a roughly 7% drop over two years. That figure is presented as a direct comparison to the 2016 baseline and signals a policy environment that produced fewer green‑card grants in the administration’s first full years. The source frames this as a decrease “for the first time in decades,” emphasizing the policy‑driven contraction captured through those specific annual counts [1].
2. What other analysts emphasize — FY2020’s dramatic midyear collapse
Independent observers highlighted an exceptional collapse of legal immigration in the second half of FY2020, with arrivals plunging roughly 87% relative to the first half and only about 13,000 new immigrants arriving from abroad in April–May 2020. That sharp, short‑term contraction is attributed to pandemic‑era travel restrictions, visa processing interruptions, and administrative measures, producing the largest half‑year decline on record and complicating year‑over‑year comparisons that span the 2017–2020 window [2].
3. Limits of the supplied documents — missing aggregates and partial timeframes
None of the supplied materials present a consolidated total of immigrant entries for the full 2017–2020 period. The items either report year‑to‑year comparisons (2016 to 2018), half‑year disruptions (second half of FY2020), or later aggregate snapshots for other years (e.g., FY2022–2023 data referenced elsewhere), leaving a gap for a single summed figure across 2017–2020. This means any definitive numeric answer requires combining separate datasets or accessing official DHS/Department of State annual tables, which are not part of the provided packet [1] [2] [3].
4. Conflicting emphases across sources — policy vs. pandemic drivers
The sources reflect two overlapping explanations for lower immigrant arrivals: administrative policy changes under the Trump administration that reduced legal immigration pathways, and pandemic‑related operational shutdowns that caused an abrupt fall in 2020. One document underscores policy‑driven declines between 2016 and 2018, while another documents the unique disruption in FY2020’s latter half. Interpreting totals for 2017–2020 therefore requires disentangling gradual policy effects from the acute shock of COVID‑19 [1] [2].
5. Additional sources in the packet — later reporting that adds context but not totals
Subsequent 2024–2025 analyses in the packet reiterate that legal immigration rebounded to near or above one million green cards in later fiscal years (e.g., FY2023 nearly 1.2 million new LPRs), but these pieces do not retroactively fill the 2017–2020 total. They do, however, provide context showing the later trajectory and that any 2017–2020 dip must be understood against a longer stream that resumed growth after pandemic and policy disruptions [3].
6. How to resolve the gap — what authoritative records would provide
To produce a precise 2017–2020 aggregate one must combine official annual and quarterly tables from DHS, Department of Homeland Security Yearbooks, State Department visa issuance reports, and USCIS admission records—datasets not included here. The packet signals where the decreases occurred and when the largest single‑period collapse happened, but it lacks the explicit yearly totals for 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 needed to compute a reliable sum without external data [1] [2] [3].
7. Bottom line for readers — what the evidence supports and what remains uncertain
The documentation establishes that legal immigration declined under the Trump administration relative to 2016 and that FY2020 experienced an unprecedented midyear collapse in arrivals, but it does not provide a single verified total of immigrant entries for 2017–2020. Any definitive numeric statement about the cumulative entries in that four‑year span would require consulting official year‑by‑year tallies not present in the supplied materials; the current sources support a directional conclusion of decline and a sharp 2020 shock, but not a precise aggregate total [1] [2] [3].