ImmigrationJun 30, 2026·3 min read·🔥 High relevance

Legal Immigration in Numbers: June 2026 Status Update

Niskanen Center

20h ago

Legal Immigration in Numbers: June 2026 Status Update

Summary

While President Trump has kept the spotlight on illegal immigration, legal immigration has also been disrupted—through policy changes and bureaucratic slowdowns. Citizenship and Immigration Services Subset of processing data for April 2026 All forms processing data for October through December 2025 Median processing times through April 30, 2026 Department of State Consular wait times as of June 18, 2026 IV and NIV monthly visa issuances for September 2025 Department of Labor PERM (labor certification for green card) Processing Times as of March 31, 2026 Immigration and Customs Enforcement International student records through June 2026 National Travel and Tourism Office Trends in overseas visitors through May 2026 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS (U.S. immigration agency)) oversees the administration of legal immigration by adjudicating applications and petitions for benefits such as work authorization, citizenship, and legal permanent residence (green card status). Key takeaways from the April 2026 USCIS processing data: Key takeaways from the April 2026 USCIS processing data: In April 2026, USCIS completed only 27,569 applications for naturalization. By comparison, in April 2025, USCIS completed over 97,000, and in the 12 months prior to that, USCIS completed an average of over 78,000 per month. The average processing time for an N-400, Application for Naturalization was 9.5 months in April 2026, compared to 6.4 months one year prior. In April 2026, 18 percent of naturalization completions were denials, more than double the rate of denials in April 2025. . Among the reported form types, USCIS received 320,000 fewer filings in April 2026 than in April 2025. Key takeaways from the FY2026 Q1 USCIS data: FY2026 Q1 ended with 11.3 million cases pending at USCIS, a 17 percent increase over the end of FY2025 Q1.

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While President Trump has kept the spotlight on illegal immigration, legal immigration has also been disrupted—through policy changes and bureaucratic slowdowns. At the same time, delayed data releases have obscured how federal agencies are currently operating, limiting public insight. Below, I analyze the most recent data available, current as of June 30, 2026. Contents U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Subset of processing data for April 2026 All forms processing data for October through December 2025 Median processing times through April 30, 2026 Department of State Consular wait times as of June 18, 2026 IV and NIV monthly visa issuances for September 2025 Department of Labor PERM Processing Times as of March 31, 2026 Immigration and Customs Enforcement International student records through June 2026 National Travel and Tourism Office Trends in overseas visitors through May 2026 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) over

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Months after he sent a harsh email to ICE, agents tracked him to his home and a hotel

David Streever takes a selfie while on vacation with his daughter and a character at Moomin World in Finland. Later, the Streevers would learn the same agents presented the same form to a Syracuse poll worker earlier that day, and accused her of threatening an ICE (immigration enforcement agency) officer on her Instagram account. He did remember a strongly worded note he had sent to Lyons' government email address in January right after federal immigration officers fatally shot two people in Minneapolis. Todd Lyons, then-acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, testifies during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Feb. 10. The department gave NPR a statement that said: "ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director. This is criticizing the director of ICE and appealing to his conscience and sharing [Streever's] own views," said Steinbaugh, who has talked with Streever about his case. It said that ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility "has identified an email sent to Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, which it has reason to believe may constitute a violation of Title 19 of the U.S. At the bottom of the form it said, "Receipt of this Notice will be taken into consideration, should you continue to be involved in any criminal activities described above." For months, DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) and ICE have been waging a crackdown on alleged threats against their personnel and doxxing attempts. Federal agents have sent administrative subpoenas to email and social media platforms to find out the identities of people who have posted about ICE anonymously. "This danger is not hypothetical," said a recent statement from DHS.

ICE releases Texas nun intercepted walking to church dressed in her habit

Diocese officials in south Texas say a nun was released after members of Congress intervened A Roman Catholic nun was released from the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE (immigration enforcement agency) ) after the agency arrested her while she walked to mass in her habit in south Texas. Sister Leticia Ugboaja was walking to Our Lady of Sorrows church in McAllen, Texas, just a few miles from the US-Mexico border on Sunday when she was detained by ICE officers, the church said in a statement on social media. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security)) and ICE have not responded to a request for comment since Sunday. Church officials’ social media post shortly after her arrest gained traction in the news and led to Congress members – including US House member Monica de la Cruz, a south Texas Republican – intervening on Ugboaja’s behalf. The nun is part of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and volunteered as what is known as an extraordinary minister of holy communion at Our Lady of Sorrows, according to Brenda Riojas, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, Texas. Ugboaja is also a registered nurse at South Texas Health System, Riojas confirmed. She also worked previously for 10 years as a certified nursing assistant at DHR Health in Edinburg, Texas. As of Monday, after De la Cruz and other US House members from south Texas intervened with federal officials, Ugboaja was back in her home. “We are grateful for the quick response of local representatives who reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to get her released from custody,” Riojas added in her statement. The immigration crackdown that Donald Trump’s administration has carried out during his second presidency – including at sensitive sites such as houses of worship – has prompted faith leaders to adjust their response to church members who have become too afraid to attend. Some have encouraged online attendance, and others have offered help doing errands such as grocery shopping for people too fearful to leave their homes.

South Africa deploys police as anti-immigrant protests prompt fears

Businesses in South African cities have been shuttered and police have been deployed to the streets as demonstrators gathered at anti-immigrant protests around the country. Anti-immigrant groups have given undocumented foreign nationals a “deadline” of Tuesday to leave the country. The groups have falsely claimed that undocumented immigrants will face arrest and deportation if they do not leave in time. The South African government has rejected the groups’ threats as false, but thousands of people have been pushed to flee. President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday that the right to protest “does not allow people to threaten or intimidate others, or to engage in acts of vandalism or violence”. “Whatever the motivation, taking the law into one’s own hands is vigilantism,” he said. Reporting from a protest in Johannesburg, Al Jazeera correspondent Haru Mutasa said the demonstrators were both working-class and middle-class South Africans and from different tribes around the country. “They all have one goal, which is basically that they want the government to do something about undocumented foreigners in the country,” she said. “They’re saying that they’re frustrated, that they’ve heard promises from the government but they’re not seeing any difference on the ground. “They’re asking why is it, when some of them have degrees, why can’t they get a job?” Mutasa said some protesters were marching through Yeoville and Hillbrow, “areas where many African nationals live alongside some of the locals as well.” “The leaders of the protests had said initially that they’ll try to coordinate their marches and try to be peaceful, but it seems some people in these marches have other ideas, breaking away, causing commotion, trying to break windows, and the police have been trying to contain them, but it’s been a struggle,” she said. The protests started as small gatherings of anti-immigrant groups in April but have been growing recently. The country has seen weeks of xenophobic attacks , with at least two Mozambicans, an Ethiopian and a Malawian killed in anti-immigrant violence, the AFP news agency reports. While some political parties have been calling for peaceful protests, other politicians have increasingly been using anti-immigrant rhetoric as the country’s November elections approach. South Africa has a history of anti-immigrant violence.

Legal Immigration in Numbers: June 2026 Status Update

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Months after he sent a harsh email to ICE, agents tracked him to his home and a hotel

ICE releases Texas nun intercepted walking to church dressed in her habit

South Africa deploys police as anti-immigrant protests prompt fears