In part because of lax enforcement by the Obama administration, a record number of immigrants settled in the United States in 2014 and 2015 — up 39 percent over the previous two years and even before the 2007 recession, according to a new study released on Friday.
About a third of the total 3.1 million immigrants counted in the report by the
Center for Immigration Studies were illegals — with many of them crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, overstaying temporary visas or being released into the country after being detained briefly by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
The number of illegals for 2014 and 2015, 1.1 million, was nearly double the 700,000 who settled across the United States the previous two years, according to the center's analysis of Census Bureau data.
The report comes a day after the
Supreme Court tied 4-4 on President Barack Obama's executive amnesty actions, effectively killing his plans for the rest of his term.
"It is certainly reasonable to argue that with more than half a million new illegal immigrants settling in the country each year, the United States does not have control over the problem," Steven Camarota, the center's research director, said in the report.
"While Mexican immigration has rebounded some from the lows of 2010 and 2011, the number of new arrivals from that country remains well below the highs reached more than a decade ago.
"But this in no way means that illegal immigration has abated," he cautioned.
Besides enforcement cuts by the White House, the report attributed the immigration surge to an improved economy and an expanded program for long-term temporary visas for guest workers and foreign students.
Overall, the 3.1 million figure represents both legal and illegal immigrants. That compares with 2.3 million who arrived in the U.S. in 2012 and 2013 — and 2.1 million two years earlier.
Before the 2007 recession, immigration peaked at 2.7 million in 2004 and 2005, according to the report.
While immigration from Mexico has somewhat tapered, many of the new arrivals came from other Latin American countries — as well as from such nations as Pakistan, India, China and Vietnam.
"Mexican immigration has rebounded significantly from the lows of 2010 and 2011, but it is still nowhere near the level it was a decade earlier," Camarota said.
Still, this decrease "has not prevented the overall level of immigration from reaching levels not seen for more than a decade because an increase in immigration from other countries has offset the Mexican decline."
Regarding legal immigrants, the surge has come from those holding green cards and long-term temporary visas, including guest workers and students.
However, "new arrivals do not simply reflect the number of new green cards issued," Camarota said. "About half of new green cards are given out each year to people already in the country."
The latest data, he concluded, "shows that the scale of new immigration is clearly enormous.
"The numbers raise profound questions about assimilation and the impact of immigration on the nation’s education system, infrastructure, and labor market, as well as the size and density of the U.S. population.
"It is difficult to find a public policy that has a more profound impact across American society than the level of immigration," Camarota said. "It is certainly appropriate that immigration should be at the center of the current presidential election."
In response to the report, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Twitter:
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.