The Department of Homeland Security and USCIS, under the Trump administration, announced sweeping enforcement-driven changes aimed at tightening every facet of the immigration system. Since January 20, 2025, the agency has eliminated large parole programs, ended multiple TPS designations, and imposed far stricter screening, vetting, and fraud detection measures. USCIS reports thousands of referrals to ICE for criminal and security concerns, participation in major fraud investigations, and expanded review of applicants’ social media for anti-American ideologies. The agency also reinstated neighborhood investigations for naturalization applicants, launched a more demanding civics test, and increased scrutiny of applicants’ moral character. At the same time, USCIS has adopted more aggressive enforcement tools—issuing over 172,000 NTAs, removing automatic EAD extensions, tightening public-charge assessments, and requiring a $100,000 fee on H-1B petitions under a new presidential proclamation. The agency has also overhauled the SAVE system to bolster election security, integrating Social Security data and streamlining citizenship verification for state and local authorities. USCIS highlights a major hiring surge for new law-enforcement-empowered “Homeland Defenders,” signaling an immigration system shifting sharply toward enforcement, vetting, and restrictive interpretations of eligibility across all benefits.