President Trump’s decisive actions at the border are delivering real results. Legal asylum entries at our ports of entry have plummeted to nearly zero, a staggering 99.9% drop from the chaos of the previous administration. This isn’t luck—it’s the direct outcome of strong leadership enforcing our laws and putting American interests first.
By metering claims and prioritizing national security, we’re finally regaining control of our sovereignty. No more open invitations for endless processing that overwhelmed our system and strained communities. Americans deserve borders that work, and this sharp decline proves it’s possible when resolve meets policy.
The American people are seeing the promise kept: a secure nation where legal immigration serves our country, not the other way around. This is what winning looks like for our future.
Your image is from the account "Republican Army." It declares a "HUGE WIN: Legal Entries Into the United States by 'Asylum Seekers' Are Down 99.9% Under President Trump. THAT'S What We Voted for," with a photo of Donald Trump in front of a U.S. Border Patrol seal.
The 99.9% figure is not made up. It comes from immigration analysts tracking port-of-entry admissions, and it reflects a deliberate policy shift in Trump's second term, not just a drop in people showing up.
Where the number comes from
The claim traces to analysis by David Bier of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that is generally pro-immigration. Writing in early 2025, Bier noted:
"LEGAL entries by people requesting asylum at ports of entry fell 99.9% under President Trump's 2nd term. That decline alone is greater than the decline from the drop in illegal entries, measured as Border Patrol arrests or releases, but it doesn't stop there…"
In other words, the administration did not just reduce illegal crossings, it almost entirely shut down the legal pathway where asylum seekers present themselves at an official bridge or border office and ask for protection.
Other outlets have documented the broader clampdown. Reuters reports the Trump administration is urging other nations to join its push to restrict asylum rights globally, arguing the current system is exploited. A separate Reuters piece notes the administration set a record-low refugee ceiling of 7,500 for 2026, the lowest in U.S. history.
How the administration did it
The drop was not accidental. It was the product of several overlapping actions in 2025-2026:
Port-of-entry turnbacks. CBP officers were directed to refuse to process most asylum claims at land ports, citing capacity and national-security grounds. People were told to wait in Mexico or return later, with no later date given.
Expanded "first-country" rule. The White House pushed a policy, now being promoted at the UN, that would require asylum seekers to claim protection in the first country they enter, limiting their ability to seek refuge in the U.S.
Parole and CBP One cancellations. The Biden-era app that scheduled asylum appointments at ports was terminated on day one of the second Trump term. Humanitarian parole programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans were wound down.
Refugee resettlement cuts. Beyond asylum at the border, the formal refugee program was capped at 7,500 for FY2026, cutting off the other legal path to protection.
Amnesty International and the American Immigration Lawyers Association argue these moves violate U.S. asylum law, which says anyone physically present in the U.S., regardless of how they entered, may apply for asylum.
What "legal entries" means here
It is important to parse the language in the meme.
- "Legal entries by asylum seekers" does not mean people with visas. It means people who follow U.S. law by presenting at a port of entry and asking for asylum, which is a legal right under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
- The 99.9% drop measures how many people were allowed in to pursue that claim, not how many tried. Advocates in Tijuana and elsewhere report thousands still waiting, but not being processed.
So the statistic is about government processing, not about global displacement. The UN estimates over 42 million refugees worldwide in 2025, and demand for protection has not fallen 99.9%.
Supporters say: this is the point
For voters who shared the meme, the drop is exactly the policy they wanted.
Their arguments:
- Deterrence works. By closing the port-of-entry pathway, the administration removed the incentive to travel to the U.S. border, reducing strain on Border Patrol and border towns.
- Asylum was being abused. Officials argue the system was overwhelmed by economic migrants using asylum claims to gain entry and work authorization while cases, which take years, were pending.
- Sovereignty first. Supporters say the U.S. should choose who enters through visas and refugee caps set by the president and Congress, not through claims made at the border.
The administration frames this as restoring order after record encounters in 2022-2024.
Critics say: this breaks law and shifts the burden
Human-rights groups and immigration attorneys see the same number and call it a crisis.
Their arguments:
- Right to seek asylum. U.S. law, written to comply with the 1951 Refugee Convention, does not require an appointment or prior permission to ask for protection at the border.
- Danger in Mexico. Amnesty International's February 2025 report from Tijuana documents asylum seekers stuck in limbo facing kidnapping, extortion, and violence after being turned back.
- Global ripple effect. By pushing other countries to adopt "first-country" rules, the U.S. is trying to reframe the post-WWII asylum system, which critics say will harm people fleeing the Global South most.
They also note that legal immigration has fallen faster than illegal entries under Trump, with visa cuts, travel bans, and higher fees reducing family and student visas at a rate 2.5 times steeper than the drop in border arrests.
What the 99.9% does not tell you
It is not a measure of border security alone. Illegal crossings are also down, but the 99.9% figure specifically tracks the near-elimination of processing, not apprehensions.
It does not mean asylum is gone. People already inside the U.S. can still file defensive asylum claims in immigration court, and some narrow exceptions for unaccompanied children remain. The numbers are tiny compared to 2023-2024 levels.
It has fiscal and labor impacts. Fewer asylum seekers means fewer new work-authorization holders in 2026-2027, at a time when some industries report labor shortages. It also reduces short-term shelter costs in cities like New York and Chicago, which was a major political driver.
Bottom line
The meme's headline is largely accurate on the data point it cites: legal entries at ports of entry by people seeking asylum have collapsed by about 99.9% in President Donald Trump's second term, according to Cato Institute analysis, because the administration stopped processing most claims.
Whether that is a "HUGE WIN" depends entirely on what you think U.S. asylum policy should do. Supporters see a promise kept to voters who wanted the border shut to asylum claims. Opponents see a legal right effectively suspended, with humanitarian costs pushed onto Mexico and other transit countries.
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