US immigration backlog tops 11 million as Trump slows USCIS processing

Business Standard

2 days ago

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processed fewer immigration cases and recorded a backlog surge in the second quarter of FY2025 (January–March), according to new data published on the agency's portal. This is the first major dataset released since the Trump administration returned to office.
USCIS completed 2.7 million cases during the quarter—down 18 per cent compared to the same period in FY2024, when it had processed 3.3 million cases. From the previous quarter alone, completions dropped by 12 per cent. Meanwhile, pending cases climbed by 1.6 million, pushing the total backlog to a record 11.3 million.
The last time pending cases came close to this number was over a decade ago.
More than 34,000 cases unopened
For the first time in over a year, the agency recorded a non-zero 'frontlog'—cases that are yet to be opened or assigned. As of the end of Q2, over 34,000 such cases were pending at the front of the pipeline.
The data showed that this slowdown is already affecting key immigration services.
< Form I-129, used for employment-based temporary visas including H-1B and L-1, saw a 25 per cent increase in median processing time quarter-on-quarter, and an 80 per cent rise compared to Q2 FY2024.
< Form I-90, used to replace green cards, saw the sharpest jump: from a median wait time of 0.8 months to over 8 months—a 938 per cent increase within just one quarter.
< Form I-765, for work permits, had its own crunch. Initial applications pending rose by 87 per cent since Q1. The total number of pending I-765s (including renewals and replacements) crossed 2 million, nearly doubling from under 1.2 million.
The net backlog—cases delayed beyond USCIS standards for Form I-765 alone went up by nearly 181 per cent.
One category, however, moved faster. The net backlog of I-129s dropped by nearly 75 per cent from the previous quarter, although the number of individuals under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme continued to decline, falling by over 8,000.
'We will pine for a functioning system'
Charles Kuck, founding partner at immigration law firm Kuck Baxter in Atlanta, said the shift was expected.
'The Trump administration has told USCIS to slow down processing of cases. Predictably, the system has quickly developed massive backlogs. By the end of 2028, we will pine for the days of a functioning legal immigration system because it will effectively not exist by the end of the Trump term,' Kuck told Newsweek.
He added that the growth in backlog was '100 per cent predictable' given the new approach. 'Starting with the staff reductions ordered at the USCIS (which is funded by user fees, not tax dollars). Followed by seeking 'volunteers' from USCIS to assist ICE in enforcement efforts. Which then leads to the administration's effort to find fraud in every application, slowing down processing times,' said Kuck.