Representative Chip Roy is confronting the Trump administration with a demand: show Congress exactly how many legal immigrants have entered the country since January 2025, or risk leaving lawmakers unable to respond to a Supreme Court ruling he calls “egregious.”
The letter, sent Thursday and obtained by the Daily Caller, follows the Court’s decision upholding birthright citizenship. Roy argues the ruling makes it more urgent than ever to track legal immigration alongside illegal crossings, warning that unchecked numbers on either front could strain American communities.
“Securing our country from mass migration means addressing both illegal and legal immigration,” Roy told the Caller. “At a time when housing, schools, healthcare, and other public services are under increasing pressure, Congress needs a full accounting of how many legal immigrants have entered the United States since the start of this Administration.”
He framed the request as a matter of basic transparency. “The American people deserve transparency so we can ensure our immigration system puts American workers, taxpayers, and communities first.”
The numbers Roy is working from are stark. The overall migrant population — legal and illegal combined — reached 53.3 million as of 2025, or 15.8 percent of the American population. Roy said that influx has flooded the labor market with foreign nationals who, in some cases, carry “criminal backgrounds or subversive ideologies” and fail to assimilate.
Roy did not dispute that immigration has long been part of the American story. “Understandably, our nation, being one of great opportunities, has attracted millions from across the globe for decades,” he said. But he drew a line between that history and what he sees as an unsustainable present. “It’s incumbent on the federal government to set reasonable limits or reductions in immigration to ensure that American communities are not overwhelmed by immigration, even if it’s lawful.”
One statistic in particular anchors his argument. Roy said nearly half of the illegal alien population entered the country through legal channels first. “Nearly half of the illegal alien population is a direct result of legal immigration, as 40 percent of illegal aliens entered the country lawfully on a visa but failed to honor their agreed-upon departure date, becoming visa overstayers,” he said. “This alarming data point should be factored in when considering legal immigration policy.”
That overlap between legal and illegal immigration is central to why Roy wants the data broken out specifically. He is requesting figures on how many people have been granted Lawful Permanent Resident status and how many nonimmigrant visas have been issued since January 20, 2025.
Roy credited the administration for progress already made on restricting immigration, but said Congress cannot legislate further without hard numbers. “Congress obtaining data on the number of individuals we’ve imported, permanently or temporarily, is a first step in advancing immigration legislation that puts American interests first and builds on the Trump administration’s commendable restriction efforts.”
Whether the administration supplies the requested figures — and how quickly — is likely to shape the next phase of the legal immigration debate on Capitol Hill.
