See How Muslim-Majority Immigration Has Plunged Under Trump

In a masterclass of decisive executive action and uncompromising border protection, President Donald Trump’s strict screening protocols and targeted travel restrictions have triggered a staggering 96% drop in immigration from Muslim-majority countries.

Legal Immigration from Majority-Muslim Nations Was Cut 96% Since 2024 pic.twitter.com/8QUs1E71dQ

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 29, 2026

Data shown in a new tracking chart from the Cato Institute reveals an incredible trajectory. While combined refugee and immigrant visa issuances hovered between 14,000 and 23,000 per month through 2024, the landscape transformed when Trump took the oath of office in January 2025. From a baseline of roughly 16,700 monthly issuances in January 2024, numbers plummeted to a mere 800 by February 2026.

By slamming the brakes on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and following up with expanded travel bans in mid-2025 and early 2026, the administration cut through the bureaucratic red tape. For years, open-border advocates ignored national security vulnerabilities, visa-overstay rates, and regimes unable or unwilling to properly vet their own citizens.

But with Trump’s leadership, the gloves came off.

Executive actions like the June 2025 and December 2025 presidential proclamations targeted countries that harbored terrorists, corruption, and had poor record-keeping. Immigration from nations like Afghanistan, Somalia, Iran, Libya, and dozens of others plummeted. The administration recognized that if a foreign government cannot verify who its own citizens are, or refuses to take back criminal deportees, its residents had no business in the United States.

Trump wrote in the June 2025 proclamation:

In Executive Order 14161 of January 20, 2025 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats), I stated that it is the policy of the United States to protect its citizens from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology, or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes. 

I also stated that the United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those aliens approved for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests. More importantly, the United States must identify such aliens before their admission or entry into the United States.  

A sweeping January 2026 State Department directive paused immigrant visa issuances for a number of high-risk nations. It enforced the rule that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient. Those nations included Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.