The number and share of the U.S. population that are foreign-born or are immigrants reached record highs in January, a report says.
Data from the government’s Current Population Survey “shows the foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal together) hit 53.3 million and 15.8 percent of the total U.S. population in January 2025,” according to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) think tank.
“Unlike border statistics, the CPS measures the number of immigrants in the country, which is what actually determines their impact on society. Without adjusting for those missed by the survey, we estimate illegal immigrants accounted for 5.4 million or two-thirds of the 8.3 million growth in the foreign-born population since President Biden took office in January 2021,” the CIS said.
“The enormous scale of legal and illegal immigration has profound implications for a host of issue areas from schools and public coffers to the labor force and housing markets,” it added. “Perhaps the most fundamental questions these numbers raise is whether the United States can successfully integrate and assimilate all the immigrants already here, let alone continue to welcome additional newcomers each year.”
The CIS said that at “15.8 percent of the total U.S. population, the foreign-born share is higher now than at the prior peaks reached in 1890 and 1910” and that “No U.S. government survey or census has ever shown such a large foreign-born population.”
It cited the Census Bureau as projecting two years ago that the foreign-born share of the U.S. population wouldn’t reach 15.8% until 2042.
“The 53.3 million foreign-born residents are the largest number ever in U.S. history; and the 8.3 million increase in the last four years is larger than the growth in the preceding 12 years,” it continued. “In the last four years, Latin America accounted for 58 percent (4.9 million) of the increase in the foreign-born, India 12 percent (958,000), the Middle East 8 percent (690,000), and China 7 percent (621,000).”
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A chart released by CIS, citing government data, showed that the foreign-born population in the U.S. increased by 2.9 million during former President Barack Obama’s first term, 3.4 million during his second, 1.6 million during President Donald Trump’s first term and 8.3 million during the Biden administration.
“Of course, during the latter part of the Trump administration, COVID significantly curtailed immigration, so one can see his four years as artificially low,” the CIS said.
It also noted that 60% of immigrants in the U.S. are employed and “There were 31.7 million immigrant workers in January 2025, and they account for nearly 20 percent of all workers.”