The true number of illegal immigrants living in America has always been a subject of debate, but there is no doubt it is growing rapidly under President Joe Biden. The most recent mainstream media numbers estimate the illegal alien population in the U.S. was around 10.5 million in 2021, and had held mostly steady around 10-11 million for much of the prior two decades. But more recent estimates say that is not the case now. "We think the total illegal immigrant population fell during COVID to maybe 10 or 10-and-a-half million, and now it's more like 13 million...maybe more," says Steven Camarota, Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Camarota tells KTRH trying to gauge the illegal immigrant population is difficult because it is constantly in flux. While illegals enter the country, others leave, are deported, die off, or gain some level of legal citizenship through marriage, work permits, etc. In addition, he points out any children born to an illegal immigrant on American soil have birthright citizenship, and thus are not included in the "illegal population."
Still, any way you slice it, the illegal immigrant population has skyrocketed under Biden. "The total immigrant population (legal and illegal) is up by maybe five million since President Biden took office, and at least half of that---2.5 million---are new illegal immigrants," he says.
Indeed, last month alone saw a record number of illegal border crossings---now reported at more than 300,000---while other reports show migrants are now flying planes to reach the Texas border. All of this adds up to a flood of new residents in America. "We estimate we will have seven million new immigrants come to America under Biden, but it's possible the illegal population alone could be up five million during his presidency," says Camarota. "If you had told me that before he took office, I would have said that's not really possible."
And with at least another year of Biden in office, Camarota expects this trend to continue. "America has never had this many immigrants in the country, legal and illegal," he says. "And that itself raises profound questions about whether we can assimilate that many people."
Photo: AFP