❓WHAT HAPPENED: A historic reduction in the foreign-born population in the U.S. occurred in the first seven months of President Donald J. Trump’s second term, attributed to record-low illegal immigration levels and migrants returning to their home countries.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler of the Center for Immigration Studies, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
📍WHEN & WHERE: January through August of this year, across the United States.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We think the evidence is strong that most or all of the decline in the foreign-born population shown in the CPS is real and primarily reflects a reduction in new arrivals and, in particular, a large increase in emigration.” – Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler.
🎯IMPACT: Record-breaking reductions in illegal immigration, with 1.6 million illegal aliens self-deporting and over 400,000 deported by ICE, alongside historic lows in border apprehensions.
The United States has seen a historic decline in its foreign-born population in the first seven months of President Donald J. Trump’s second term, due mainly to record-low rates of illegal border crossings and a significant number of foreign nationals choosing to return to their country of origin. The data comes from an analysis of the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler of the Center for Immigration Studies.
According to the researchers, the foreign-born population has dropped by 2.2 million across the United States from January through August of this year. Importantly, the analysis sheds light on how effective the Trump administration’s increased interior immigration enforcement operations have been, finding that the illegal immigrant population has declined by 1.6 million over the eight-month period.
The Center for Immigration Studies researchers note that while some might attribute the CPS data analysis to a “a statistical fluke,” the plummeting foreign-born population is likely driven by record-low illegal immigration levels as well as self-deportations “We think the evidence is strong that most or all of the decline in the foreign-born population shown in the CPS is real and primarily reflects a reduction in new arrivals and, in particular, a large increase in emigration,” Camarota and Zeigler write.
In September, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that estimates suggest 1.6 million illegal immigrants have self-deported from the United States. Additionally, government data shows the Trump administration is on track to match or exceed the 300,000 peak annual deportations seen under former President Barack Obama—the most in a year in recent history. Some estimates place the total deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at more than 400,000.
The National Pulse reported on Tuesday that illegal crossings at the U.S.–Mexico border have fallen to their lowest level in over 50 years. U.S. Border Patrol recorded approximately 238,000 apprehensions in fiscal year 2025, a dramatic decline from the 2.2 million reported in fiscal year 2022 during the Biden government.
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