The Size and Growth of the Immigrant Population in the U.S.

Mark Krikorian; Steven A. Camarota

By Mark Krikorian and Steven A. Camarota on April 4, 2024

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Summary

The starting point of any conversation about immigration should be the numbers. This week’s episode of the Center for Immigration Studies podcast highlights a recent report co-authored by Steven Camarota, the Center’s director of research, which examines the number and share of the foreign-born in the United States.

The total foreign-born population, encompassing both legal and illegal immigrants, has soared to a record high of 51.4 million as of February 2024, marking a monumental increase of 6.4 million since President Biden assumed office. This increase has driven the foreign-born share to an unprecedented 15.5% of the population, eclipsing historical benchmarks like that seen in 1910 and reaching a level that the Census Bureau had estimated the country would not reach until 2039.

Camarota discusses the impact of policy decisions on immigration trends, noting, “This level of growth over such a short period of time was clearly caused by policy changes.” He emphasizes that “without new policies, there is no reason to believe there will be a slowdown in population growth in the future.”

The implication of these historically high numbers, coupled with the growing share of the immigration population, impacts crucial aspects of American society, including assimilation, linguistic integration, and the economy. Camarota highlights the changing demographics – greater proportion of Latin American immigrants, more illegal immigrants, and a trend towards lower educational attainment.

Camarota is especially concerned about education levels, as education is a key indicator of how people will fare in the modern economy – including factors such as employment potential, salary level, taxes paid, public benefits used, etc.

He also underscores the distinction between the size of the economy (GDP) and its per capita performance, discussing how per capita GDP can be adversely affected despite overall economic expansion from an increase in population.

In his closing commentary, Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and podcast host, draws attention to Biden’s CHNV parole program. In just 14 months, this program has permitted an estimated 386,000 foreign nationals to enter the country who have no legal right to be here and who present special security challenges.