The Trump administration is making it harder for legal immigrants, international students, nurses, and highly skilled workers to enter and remain in the United States.
Posted by Bulwark Takes, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
Bulwark TakesAug 29, 2026
Trump’s immigration crackdown isn’t just targeting people who entered the country illegally—it’s making it harder for legal immigrants, international students, nurses, and highly skilled workers to come to and stay in the United States. Catherine Rampell and Doug Rand, former senior advisor at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, break down how the administration is shutting down legal pathways, imposing massive new barriers on H-1B workers, and driving international talent toward …
As of 2026-08-29, multiple sources show the Trump administration tightening legal immigration: AP reports an immigrant visa pause and planned revocations of business and tourism visas, the White House touts H-1B restrictions and $100,000 payments, and NYT data shows immigrant visas roughly halved.
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This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What we found
Supports. AP reports the State Department paused all immigrant visa applications and that the administration is preparing to revoke visas of up to 200,000 foreigners, describing an intensified crackdown on people who enter legally.[1]
Supports. The White House says entry of H-1B workers was restricted unless petitions carry a $100,000 payment, and that lottery registrations fell 38% under the new system.[2]
Supports. The NYT reports immigrant visas issued in February 2026 were 26,000 versus a prior average of 52,000 a month, with immigration from 91 countries effectively blocked.[4]
Supports. USA Today data shows international student visas issued fell 31% and employment-based approvals dropped 26% in 2025, while CNN quotes analysts describing sharp cuts to legal immigration across categories.[5][6]
Context. The administration's own DHS release frames its work as enforcement against illegal aliens, which is the contrast the post is responding to; the post's opinion framing is a characterization, but the specific measures it cites are documented.[3]
Context. The USA Today piece and Yahoo report are lower-credibility outlets, but their figures align with the NYT and government data.[6][7]
Sources
7 sources: 1 fact-checker, 2 primary, 2 tier 2, 2 not rated
- 1How the Trump administration is expanding its immigration crackdown to people entering legallyapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2How President Trump Ended the Border Invasion and ...whitehouse.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Under President Trump's Leadership, USCIS Takes Unprecedented 2.2 Million Enforcement Actions Protecting Americans Across the Nationdhs.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 4Legal Immigration Fell Sharply Under Trump Policies Adopted ...nytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5How legal immigration is changing under Trumpcnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 6www.usatoday.com · story · newsLegal immigration drops under Trump. What that means for US ...usatoday.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 7Trump White House Celebrates NY Times Report on ...yahoo.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Trump administration is imposing new barriers on H-1B workers.True
- The Trump administration has stripped legal status from close to 2 million immigrants.Mixed
- The Trump administration is revoking hundreds of thousands of visas from foreign nationals.True
- The Trump administration has implemented a global freeze on green card processing for applicants from 75 countries.True