Posted on October 28, 2022

Foreign-Born Population Hits Nearly 48 Million in September 2022

Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler, Center for Immigration Studies, October 27, 2022

The Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) shows that the total foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) in the U.S. hit 47.9 million in September 2022 — a record high in American history — and an increase of 2.9 million since January 2021. At 14.6 percent, the immigrant share of the U.S. population is now just slightly below the all-time highs reached in 1890 and 1910. If present trends continue, the foreign-born share will surpass the all-time highs reached more than a century ago next year. The CPS data is important because neither the record number of border encounters or figures for new legal immigrants actually measures the number of immigrants living in the country, which is what ultimately determines immigration’s impact on American society.

There is a good deal of variation month-to-month in the data, but the 2.9 million increase in the foreign-born population since President Biden took office is both very large and statistically significant. The dramatic growth is so striking because, for the foreign-born population to grow at all, new arrivals must exceed both return-migration and deaths, as all births to immigrants in the U.S., by definition, add only to the native-born population.

Among our findings:

  • The 47.9 million foreign-born residents (legal and illegal) in September 2022 is the largest number ever recorded in any U.S. government survey or census; and 2.9 million larger than in January 2021 when President Biden took office.
  • Immigrants from Latin American countries other than Mexico account for 60 percent of the increase in the foreign-born population since January 2021.
  • We preliminarily estimate that illegal immigrants accounted for 61 percent, or slightly less than 1.8 million, of the growth in the foreign-born population since January 2021.
  • As a share of the total population, the foreign-born now account for 14.6 percent 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 percent of the U.S. population in August next year, surpassing the all-time highs reached in 1910 (14.7 percent) and 1890 (14.8 percent).
  • In addition to the immigrants themselves, there are also 17.2 million U.S.-born children (under age 18) with an immigrant parent — immigrants and their children now account for one in five U.S. residents (65 million).
  • Initially, the dramatic increase in the foreign-born population in recent months could be seen as a return to the long-term growth trend over the last decade that was disrupted by Covid-19. Now, the 47.9 million immigrants in September exceeds the trend line by 1.1 million.
  • At 143,000, the average monthly growth in the foreign-born population since President Biden took office is also significantly higher than the 76,000 per month in Obama’s second term, and the 42,000 per month under Trump before Covid-19 hit.
  • Of the 47.9 million immigrants in the country in September, 29.4 million were employed — two million more than in September 2019 before Covid-19.
  • While a large share 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.

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