Analysis of Monthly Census Survey Shows Big Increase in Foreign-Born Population

A recent analysis of the Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies shows that the total foreign-born population increased by 1.6 million from September 2020 to September 2021. The total foreign-born population fell for much of 2020 but rebounded immensely during recent months.

CIS states that opposed to illegal border crossers or visas issued to legal migrants, the growth in foreign-born population provides a better insight into the actual number of immigrants living in the United States, as it reflects both new arrivals (legal and illegal) and those who leave or pass away.

Dr. Steven Camarota, the Center for Immigration Studies’ Director of Research and co-author of the analysis, stated:

There is a lot of variation from month to month in the CPS, so any change should be interpreted cautiously. However, the dramatic increase in the total immigrant population in the past year almost certainly reflects the current surge of illegal immigration at the border, as well as the restarting of legal immigration.

According to the data shown in the analysis, the total foreign-born or immigrant population, regardless of status, rebounded to 45.4 million in September 2021; as stated above, that is a 1.6 million increase since that time in 2020. For context, the immigrant population fell by 1.1 million between September 2019 and September 2020.

Hispanic immigrants, regardless of status, accounted for about half of the foreign-born increase since last year (800,000). According to the Center, research from both the Federal government and outside research previously estimated that approximately three-quarters of illegal aliens are Hispanic. Thus, this increase is more statistical proof that illegal immigration has increased dramatically in the last year.

During the four years of President Trump’s term (Jan. 2017 – Jan. 2021), the foreign-born population grew by 1.6 million; by comparison, during Obama’s last four years in office (Jan. 2013 – Jan. 2017), the foreign-born population grew by 3.4 million.

CIS makes special note that the foreign-born population count conducted monthly by CPS has a margin of error of +/- 500,000; CIS says that this margin makes comparing changes over long periods all the more important when attempting to draw conclusions about immigration trends.

The CIS analysis concludes by reminding its readers that the foreign-born population can only grow by the arrival of new legal immigrants and illegal aliens, as children born to immigrants in the United States are automatically considered native-born by definition. Thus, for the total immigrant population to grow, new arrivals must outnumber the natural mortality of those already present and those who chose to leave – approx. 1 million per year (pre-Covid).

For the complete story, please visit the Center for Immigration Studies.