The foreign-born population hit a record high in March, in large part as a result of the flow of illegal migrants into the U.S. over the last few years.
The population of foreign-born people living in the U.S. hit a new record high of 51.6 million in March, raising the percentage of foreign-born residents to 15.6% of the total U.S. population, according to a study by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).
The CIS report found that between March 2022 and March 2024, the foreign-born population in the U.S. increased by 5.1 million people, which the report noted is the largest two-year increase in American history.
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President Biden teased a possible executive order to shut down the border. (Getty Images)
“Although many think of immigrants only as workers, less than half of those who arrived since 2022 are employed,” the report added.
Driving the large increase is illegal immigration, the report found, noting that 58% of the increase under President Biden’s watch is attributable to illegal migration. Since Biden took office in 2021, the foreign-born population has increased by a total of 6.6 million people.
The 6.6 million person increase in just 39 months under Biden is “unprecedented,” the report argues, noting that the figure is roughly equal to the increase seen during the nine years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“If present trends continue, the foreign-born population will reach 62.5 million in 2030 and 82.2 million by 2040 – larger than the current combined populations of 30 states plus the District of Columbia,” the report said.
The report also points out that the numbers represent a net change in total population, more than making up for outflows of migrants or deaths.
A group of migrants rushes the border on March 21, 2024, knocking down Texas National Guardsmen in the process before they were halted. (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)
“New immigrants add to the total foreign-born population but are offset by emigration and mortality among the existing immigrant population,” the report said. “All births to immigrants in the United States add only to the native-born population by definition. This means the number of new arrivals must be even higher for the foreign-born population to grow this much.”
Moreover, the report found a staunch difference between the growing total under Biden compared to his immediate predecessors, with Biden adding about 174,000 new foreign-born residents per month compared to 42,000 under former President Trump before COVID. That 174,000 also far outpaces the inflow seen under former President Barack Obama, who averaged 76,000 per month in his second term and 59,000 in his first, or an average of 68,000 per month when both terms are combined.
President Biden, former President Trump and former President Obama (AP/AP/Getty Images)
“The current scale of immigration (legal and illegal) into the United States is without any precedent in the nation’s history,” the report concludes. “Perhaps the most fundamental question these numbers raise is whether America can successfully incorporate and assimilate all the immigrants already here, let alone millions more in the future.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
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