Thanks to a surge under the Biden administration, the United States has more foreign-born people than any time in history, and surprised census-takers by reaching 15% of the overall population ten years faster than a prediction made only last month.The Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) shows that the total foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) was 49.5 million in October 2023 — a 4.5 million increase since President Biden took office and a new record high. At 15%, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population is also the highest ever recorded.Since Biden took office in January 2021, the foreign-born population has grown by 4.5 million — larger than the individual populations of 25 U.S. states. An estimated 2.5 million—more than half--was due to illegal immigration, but the number is presumably higher since illegals might not participate in the survey. Overall, legal immigrants still account for three-fourths of the total foreign-born population.The foreign-born population has grown on average by 137,000 a month since Biden took office, compared to 42,000 a month during Trump’s presidency before Covid-19 hit, and 68,000 a month during President Obama’s two terms.On November 9, the census bureau projected that the foreign-born share would not hit 15% until 2033, but the survey results brought that result ten years early.The largest percentage increases since January 2021 come from South America (up 28%); Central America (up 25%); Sub-Saharan Africa (up 21%); the Caribbean (up 20%); and the Middle East (up 14%). Immigrants from Latin America increased by 2.9 million over that time, accounting for 63% of the total. Overall, Latin Americans compose 53% of foreign-born in the U.S.Although the economy was expanding in the Trump years prior to the pandemic, the foreign-born population was trending down in the latter part of 2019. Once travel restrictions were imposed and Title 42 was implemented at the border, the immigrant population declined through the middle of 2020, hitting a low of 43.8 million in August and September of that year. People still arrived in 2020 but outmigration and natural mortality were higher, and so the total immigrant population fell. The foreign-born population rebounded dramatically by 5.75 million after hitting a low in late summer of 2020, though some of this may be due to better data collection.Title 42, called the “closed border policy” by opponents, is facing challenges in the courts. It prompted the startup of the organization Global Exchange, dedicated to ending the policy.“The Biden-Harris administration’s message about the dangers of a deadly journey, pretending to discourage migration, and asking people to stay at home have proven to be ineffective in a region [Mexico] where poverty and violence is on the rise, and police and military units colluded with organized crime. People rather face the deadly risks of trying to reach a better future than accept violence or death at home,” the organization explains.Between the lines, the combination of tough laws, but lax enforcement, may be responsible for the worst of all worlds—except for a burgeoning market for “coyotes” who try to smuggle people over the border.
