Immigration judges have ordered more than 440,000 asylum seekers removed from the United States during Trump’s first 19 months back in office, according to an analysis of immigration court records.

The number of removal orders issued during that period exceeds the combined total from the previous eight years, reflecting a major shift in how immigration courts are handling the large number of asylum cases pending before them.

A removal order gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement the authority to return a migrant to his or her home country after an immigration judge determines that the person does not qualify for asylum or another form of protection.

At the same time, the share of asylum cases being approved has dropped sharply. Data from TRAC Immigration show that judges approved roughly 5% of asylum requests in 2026, compared with about 50% in September 2023.

At the current pace, immigration courts are approving roughly 800 asylum claims while denying about 15,000 each month. The figures come as the administration works through a massive backlog of cases that accumulated during the Biden administration.

The asylum backlog reached approximately 3.7 million cases in 2024 before beginning to decline. It has since fallen below 3.1 million, reducing the amount of time many applicants can remain in the United States while waiting for their cases to be resolved.

The administration has argued that the asylum system has been used by migrants seeking economic opportunities rather than protection from persecution, which under U.S. law is the basis for receiving asylum.

A 2026 survey of migrants at the border conducted by pro-migration groups found that 54% cited economic or employment reasons for leaving their home countries, while 3.7% identified political opinion as their reason for migration.

The Trump administration has made faster case processing, stricter screening, and the removal of migrants whose claims do not meet the legal requirements central parts of its immigration policy.

The changes have also reduced the opportunity for migrants with unsuccessful asylum claims to remain in the country for years while their cases move through an increasingly large immigration court system.