Over the past year, the total foreign-born in the United States grew by 1.6 billion.
According to a report by the Center for Immigration Studies, a careful analysis of the Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) revealed that the total foreign-born population rebounded dramatically, increasing by 1.6 million from September 2020 to September 2021.
Immigration fell during much of 2020 largely due to the Wuhan virus pandemic and the Trump administration moratorium measures. However, the installation of the Biden administration has changed the immigration game, with the Biden regime promoting laxer migratory policies and other moves to undermine America’s national sovereignty.
“There is a lot 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.” declared Dr. Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research and co-author of this report.
Several data points from CIS’s study stood out:
- The total immigrant or foreign born population (legal and illegal) rebounded to 45.4 million in September of 2021, a 1.6 million increase since September of 2020.
- The recent growth of 1.6 million follows a 1.1 million decline in the total immigrant population between September 2019 and September 2020.
- Hispanic immigrants (legal and illegal) account for about half (800,000) of the increase since last September. Both the federal government and outside researchers have previously estimated that roughly three-quarters of illegal immigrants are Hispanic, so the recent increase in Hispanic immigrants is an indication that illegal immigration has increased dramatically in the last year.
- The monthly data also suggests a “Trump effect” on immigration. During President Donald Trump’s four years in office (January 2017 to January 2021), the foreign-born population grew 1.6 million, which is less than half the 3.4 million growth during President Barack Obama’s second term (January 2013 to January 2017).
- Immigration in the last year of the Trump administration was impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic. During the first 3 years (January 2017 to January 2020) of Trump’s administration, which predate Covid, the immigrant population grew 1 million, compared to 3 million in the first three years of the second Obama administration (January 2013 to January 2016).
- The immigrant count in the monthly CPS has a margin of error of roughly ±500,000, making it necessary to compare changes over longer periods of time when drawing conclusions about trends.
- Growth in the total immigrant population can be caused only by new legal and illegal immigrants arriving from abroad, as births to immigrants in the U.S add to the native-born by definition. For the total immigrant population to grow, new arrivals must exceed the sum of natural mortality among the existing population of immigrants (roughly 300,000 per year) and the number who leave each year, which before Covid was estimated at nearly 1 million annually.
There is a clear contrast between the Biden and Trump administrations when it comes to immigration policy. The former is an enthusiastic booster of mass migration, while the latter still nominally believes in the national question. Indeed, amnesty has been halted in its tracks, as witnessed by a recent amnesty bill getting shelved in the Senate.
Nevertheless, the Biden administration will still pursue other measures to weaken immigration enforcement to usher in a climate of de facto open borders. Immigration remains a civilizational issue of the highest priority. Since the passage of the 1965 Hart Cellar Act, well over 50 million migrants have moved to the United States, and that number will continue to grow if immigration is not halted.
The populist Right can stand for American workers while also promoting demographic integrity by coming out in favor of an immigration moratorium. It’s well past time to keep immigration in check.
