The Trump administration's sweeping effort to slow down the rate of legal migration has affected a group traditionally immune from such efforts: spouses of U.S. citizens.
The administration has implemented a slew of policy changes since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, ranging from pausing immigrant visas for people from 75 countries to imposing greater scrutiny of applicants at green-card interviews and widening the scope of who is a target for deportation. The changes have hit all immigrants hard, including those who sought to enter and stay in the country through marriage.
Some non-U.S.-citizen spouses have been separated from their American loved ones and are afraid to engage with the U.S. immigration system, according to lawyers and NPR interviews with affected families.
"Life has become a lot more difficult for Americans who are married to somebody who is not born in this country," said Ashley DeAzevedo, executive director of American Families United. The organization advocates for U.S. citizen spouses and immediate family members of those engaged in various immigration processes.
The organization's membership has grown over the last year as more people are affected by the rapid policy changes, she said. Now there are about 1.4 million people seeking the group's support in the U.S., and about 300,000 outside the country — made up of people who have left the U.S., as well as those who want to come in.
"We saw so many of our members make the decision to self-deport, to leave the country for fear of this indefinite detention," DeAzevedo said. "We saw some members who had their spouses detained — and that was something we had not experienced previously because there was always this prioritization of who was going to be detained."
Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the United States government has always vetted and scrutinized immigrants who sought to stay in the U.S. through marriage.
However, while applying to stay, spouses of U.S. citizens were generally not swept up in broader immigration enforcement efforts.
"This group of individuals have always had a special place under the law," Dalal-Dheini said. "Spouses of U.S. citizens aren't subject to the immigrant quotas. They don't have to have a cap. Spouses of U.S. citizens don't [have to have maintained] their legal status here in order to adjust. And so the law has considered them to be a privileged class.
"But this administration is treating them like all other immigrants."
The administration says prior presidents should also have scrutinized such marriage-related applications more closely, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is just complying with the law.
In a statement to NPR, USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler said verifying identities and personal histories of all people seeking immigration benefits, like a green card or citizenship, requires a rigorous process — "one that prioritizes the safety of the American people by more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens."
He said just marrying a U.S. citizen and beginning the petition process does not protect someone from deportation.
"A pending or approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, does not confer any immigration status. All aliens are expected to comply with U.S. immigration laws," Kahler said. "Those who entered without inspection or who remain in the United States beyond their permitted stay are illegal aliens who may be subject to immigration enforcement action."
Family and fiancé petitions make up nearly half of green-card approvals
Immediate family sponsorship, including for spouses and fiancés, is one of the top ways U.S. citizens interact with the immigration system.
The latest data released by the Homeland Security Department, from 2024, shows that about 343,000 people received their green cards through their spouses — about a quarter of all green-card approvals. For about a decade, the number has hovered somewhere between 200,000 and 340,000 people.
The number of approved green cards doubles when accounting for other immediate family members who can provide sponsorship for immigrants, like children and parents. That suggests how important this pathway is for U.S. citizens and their immigrant family members.
The average processing time for each petition was 13 months for family members, and seven months for fiancés — largely in line with wait times from early 2025, before Trump's policies took effect.
In the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year, 167,401 immediate family relative petitions were approved, and 8,612 fiancé petitions were approved.
The number of petitions approved has generally increased and decreased across administrations.
Chaos for U.S. citizens, including military members
The data may mask other ways noncitizen spouses could be affected. That's particularly true for those from one of over 70 countries that face holds for a wide range of travel and immigrant visas.
One such case is Es', a green-card holder married to a U.S. citizen. She was born in one of the 39 countries subject to a travel ban to the U.S., which was implemented last year. The pause means that although she has been in the country for three decades, her application for citizenship filed last year has not yet been reviewed.
There is no exception to the travel ban, even for spouses of U.S. military members.
The last few months have thrown the couples' lives into chaos.
"We are due to [move] to Germany," Es said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because her husband is in the Army and her immigration case is pending. "We were actually due to leave in July but had to push it to October to see if we can get [my citizenship] done."
The couple is now grappling with what to do with the house they own, whether they would have to travel separately, and what Es' lack of citizenship means for their two young U.S. citizen children — as well as their belongings.
"That'll mess up his readiness [for military service]," Es said in an interview. "He'll be thousands of miles away and he has to think about his job and will be worried about us and that is just not fair." A federal judge ruled the pause was unlawful, but her case has still not moved.
"This is not impacting people who have done anything wrong. This is impacting everyone," she said.
It's not just the bans and pauses. Several people told NPR that delays at the consulates are also contributing to strain, and leaving some spouses or fiancés without any legal status at all.
"People who are marrying U.S. citizens often are no longer in status, whether they came in legally and then their status expired or their status was terminated, like if they had [temporary protected status]," Dalal-Dheini said.
"And then there's extra scrutiny being applied to them now," she said, in reference to the USCIS approach to all applications.
Chilling effect on engaging with the process
Advocates say recent policy changes have amped up scrutiny of all immigration applications and chipped away at families' willingness to engage with the government.
USCIS officers are instructed to conduct more interviews. A memo last month encouraged officers to consider if someone had returned to their home country to apply for a green card when reviewing their application; those who stay in the U.S. may face longer and more intrusive vetting. Trump has also asked financial institutions to review the bank accounts of those in the U.S. without permanent status.
Eric Welsh, an immigration attorney in California, said clients must prepare for questions about when and how they applied for a green card, including providing evidence of "good moral character" and other information — something that previously wasn't required for those seeking to gain permanent residency or U.S. citizenship through marriage.
"What's important to keep in mind is that spouses are vulnerable," Welsh said, noting that while there are some pathways to be granted something like a green card or citizenship, it's not guaranteed. "There's no absolute right to remain and there's no absolute right to be afforded adjustment to status. And so I think that's something that most people don't commonly understand, especially not the U.S. citizens."
He and DeAzevedo have seen some families hesitate to move forward in their immigration cases.
"[This] has had an absolute chilling effect on many people in this country and their desire to put their spouse in that position," DeAzevedo said.
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