Foreign-born highest since 1890 shock new figures show how much Biden changed America

The government’s household survey in January of this year showed the foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal together) hit 53.5 million, amounting to 15.8% of the total US population.Both numbers are record highs in American history.The record level of immigration has profound implications for taxpayers, schools, American workers, and our ability to assimilate so many people.The public rightly senses this level of immigration is unsustainable, which is a key reason they elected Donald Trump.Formally known as the Current Population Survey (CPS), the household survey in January is the first government survey to be weighted based on a new method developed by the Census Bureau to better reflect the recent surge in illegal immigration.January’s figures breaks the prior record set in 1890, and reflects a significant change in the status quo.

Just two years ago, the Census Bureau projected that the foreign-born would not reach 15.8% until 2042.Evidence indicates something like 12 million new legal and illegal immigrants arrived during Biden’s four years.Because some immigrants already here die each year, and others go home, the net increase was “only” 8.3 million — larger than the individual populations of 38 states.Illegal immigrants account for much of the recent growth. The Department of Homeland Security estimates illegal immigration by taking the number of legal immigrants in the country, a number we know reasonably well, and subtracting it from the total immigrant population recorded in government surveys.The difference between these two numbers in January of 2025 was 15.4 million, an increase of 5.4 million (54%) compared to the January 2021 data.Even if only a modest share of illegal immigrants are missed by the survey, the total population would be close to 16 million.While the scale of illegal immigration was enormous in the last four years, legal immigration has been high for decades.News articles about legal immigrants ofte...