CIS: Foreign-Born Population Hits Record 47 Million in April

According to data released by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics and analyzed by the Center for Immigration Studies, President Biden’s open-border immigration policy has led to more than a 10% increase in America’s illegal alien population.

For context, the United States’s illegal alien population grew from an estimated 10.2 million aliens when President Biden took office to 11.6 million aliens in April. The Centers for Immigration Studies analysis states:

This means that illegal immigrants accounted for some 1.35 million (about two-thirds) of the two million growth in the total foreign-born population since President Biden took office.

As a result of this massive increase in illegal immigration, the total foreign-born population in the United States – including legal and illegal migrants – currently rests at 47 million (14.3% of the total population), a 112-year record high.

According to the CIS report written by Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler:

As a share of the total population, the foreign-born now account for 14.3% of the U.S. population — the highest percentage in 112 years. If present trends continue, the foreign-born share of the population will surpass the all-time high in American history by September of next year.

Immigration is sometimes seen as like the weather — something outside the control of public policy. In fact, it must be understood that the level of legal immigration as well as policies and resources directed at controlling illegal immigration all represent policy choices. The dramatic growth in the foreign-born population in the last 16 months are the direct result of those choices.

Since his inauguration, President Biden’s administration has fervently taken apart and ended numerous programs implemented under President Trump that helped curb uncontrolled mass immigration – both legal and illegal. “The result has been a massive and historic surge of illegal immigrants into the U.S.,” says the Washington Examiner.

“What’s changed? At least some of the dramatic increase in the foreign-born population corresponds to the large surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border. This dramatic increase in border encounters seems closely related to President Biden’s campaign promises that created the perception, well before he even took office, that he would curtail immigration enforcement,” concludes the CIS analysis.

The Washington Examiner highlighted several other key points pulled from the CIS report:

• The 47 million foreign-born residents (legal and illegal) in the country in April of 2022 is the largest number ever recorded in any U.S. government survey or decennial census.
• The total foreign-born population (legal and illegal) increased by two million in the first 16 months of the Biden administration — January 2021 to April 2022 — twice as fast as the U.S.-born population grew.
• We preliminarily estimate that illegal immigrants accounted for two-thirds of the growth in the foreign-born population since January 2021 — 1.35 million.
• Taking a longer view, since 2000, the total foreign-born population has grown by 50%; it’s doubled since 1990, tripled since 1980, and quintupled since 1970.
• As a share of the total population, the foreign-born now account for 14.3% of the population, or one in seven U.S. residents — the highest percentage in 112 years. As recently as 1990 they were one in 13 U.S. residents.
• If present trends continue, the foreign-born share of the population will reach 14.9% of the U.S. population in September 2023, higher than at any time in the nation’s 246-year history.
• On average the foreign-born population has grown by 132,000 a month since President Biden took office, compared to 59,000 per month in Obama’s first term, 76,000 per month in Obama’s second term, and 42,000 per month under Trump before COVID-19 hit.
• While much of the recent increase in the total foreign-born population is due to illegal immigration, those in the country legally still account for three-fourths of all foreign-born residents.
• The states with the largest increase in the total foreign-born population from January 2021 to April 2022 are California (up 527,000), Florida (up 390,000), Pennsylvania (up 375,000), Michigan (up 247,000), Georgia (up 152,000), Arizona (up 148,000), New York (up 145,000), Tennessee (up 130,000), and South Carolina (up 128,000).

You can read the full CIS report here.

For the complete Washington Examiner story, please click here.