All of the United States’ net population growth between 2022 and 2023 was due to immigration, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. It’s the first time population influx from immigration has outpaced native births since the Census began to collect data on nativity in 1850, according to the organization’s latest roundup of frequently requested statistics on immigration. The U.S. immigrant population grew by 1.6 million over that period—a 3.6 percent increase and the largest annual rise since 2010. The U.S. immigrant population is now at 47.8 million people or 14.3 percent of the total population, which is close to the record set in 1890 of 14.8 percent. U.S. birth rates have recently reached historic lows, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. President Donald Trump has made border security and unauthorized immigration a key part of his administration’s policy platform. The institute’s report notes that the vast majority of immigrants, about 73 percent, have permanent legal status.
