Immigrant Population Hits Record 46.2 Million in November 2021
Census Bureau data: foreign-born population declined through mid-2020, then rebounded dramatically
By Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler on December 20, 2021
An analysis of the Census Bureau’s monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) from November 2021 shows the total immigrant population (legal and illegal) in the U.S. hit 46.2 million, the highest number ever recorded in American history. Immigrants are also referred to by the government as the “foreign-born”. The overall immigrant population fell through the middle of 2020 and then rose dramatically after Biden’s victory. There is a lot of variation from month to month in the CPS, so any change should be interpreted in light of this variability. The growth and size of the immigrant population in the CPS are important because, unlike arrival figures for legal immigrants or border apprehensions, the CPS measures the total number of foreign-born people living in the country, which is what ultimately determines immigration’s impact on American society.
For the immigrant population to grow, new arrivals must exceed return migration and deaths. Births to immigrants, legal or illegal, in the United States do not add to the foreign-born as all persons born in the United States are considered native-born by definition. New immigration is offset by the nearly one million immigrants we have previously estimated are deported or choose to leave the country each year, and by natural mortality of roughly 300,000 a year among the existing immigrant population. The foreign-born in Census Bureau surveys includes all persons who were not U.S. citizens at birth — mainly naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, long-term temporary visitors, and illegal immigrants.
Among the findings:
There were a total of 46.2 million immigrants (legal and illegal) in the country in November 2021. This is the largest number of immigrants ever recorded in any government survey or census going back to 1850.
As a share of the total U.S. population, immigrants were 14.2 percent in November 2021 — the highest percentage in 111 years. The immigrant share of the population has tripled since 1970 and has come close to doubling since 1990.
The number of immigrants in the country grew by 1.5 million between November 2020 and November of this year after declining by 1.2 million between February and September 2020 as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
In just the last month — October to November 2021 — the total immigrant population increased by 470,000.
https://cis.org/Camarota/Immigrant-Population-Hits-Record-462-Million-November-2021
