America’s immigration surge has gone into reverse.
The illegal immigrant population fell by an estimated 2.3 million during President Trump’s first 18 months back in office, according to a preliminary Center for Immigration Studies analysis of federal survey data.
The estimate puts the illegal immigrant population at 13.5 million in July, down from 15.8 million in January 2025.
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Legal immigration declined too, with that population falling by roughly 600,000.
“We’ve never seen anything quite like this before,” Center for Immigration Studies research director Steven Camarota told The Washington Times. “This is big and sustained, as best as we can tell.”
The analysis estimates the total foreign-born population dropped from 53.3 million to 50.5 million — a dramatic reversal after an estimated 8.3 million increase during the Biden years.
Camarota attributes the shift to Trump’s tougher immigration policies: deportations, fewer new arrivals and illegal immigrants choosing to self-deport.
“It is a fundamental change, and it’s profound,” he said.
The figures are estimates based on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, which does not directly ask respondents whether they are in the country legally. Researchers instead use demographic characteristics to estimate legal status.
If the trend holds, Camarota says America is witnessing something it hasn’t seen since the 1930s: A sustained net decline in immigration.
More over at The Washington Times:
President Trump cuts migrant population by nearly 3 millionhttps://t.co/dRF0X6CZUP
— White House Press Office (@PressSec) September 3, 2026
