New data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that more than 1 million immigrants will enter the United States in 2016.
The data show there will be a net immigration figure of 1.25 million next year, up from 1.24 million in 2015. That figure is calculated by taking the number of new immigrants and subtracting the number of immigrants who leave the country.
The data predict there will be a net immigration figure of 1.31 million in 2025.
The debate on illegal immigration received a jolt recently when Donald Trump, a Republican candidate for president, spoke about the issue in his campaign announcement speech last month.
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. ... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us," s
aid Trump, who defended his comments last week. "They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, some are good people!
"But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we're getting. And it only makes common sense. They're sending us not the right people. It's coming from more than Mexico. It's coming from all over South and Latin America, and it's coming probably from the Middle East. But we don't know. Because we have no protection and we have no competence, we don't know what's happening. And it's got to stop and it's got to stop fast."
Further, a San Francisco woman was recently shot and killed — at random — allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant who was taking shelter in the city,
one of several across the U.S. that does not enforce federal immigration laws.
A recent poll showed that most Americans want these so-called sanctuary cities punished by the government.
President Barack Obama took executive actions on immigration late last year, which would grant amnesty to as many as 5 million illegals currently living in the U.S. The legislation is now
held up in the court system.