A new study released by the Center of Immigration Studies shows that both legal and illegal immigration increased 39% between 2014-2015. More than 3 million immigrants settled in the U.S. in the last 2 years, this rate is now higher than the pre-recession levels of 2007.
The study estimates that out of the 3.1 million new immigrants to enter the U.S. in the last two years, 1.1 million (550,000 annually) were new illegal aliens while the other 2 million were new legal immigrants (both temporary and permanent). The numbers are based on Census Bureau data and does not account for immigrants that may have been missed by the Bureau.
The major findings of the study include:
• The data shows that 3.1 million new immigrants (legal and illegal) settled in the country in 2014 and 2015, or more than 1.5 million annually.
• This is a huge increase from previous years. In 2012 and 2013, 2.3 million immigrants arrived (about 1.1 million annually) and from 2010 and 2011, 2.1 million new immigrants arrived (around 1 million annually).
• New illegal aliens increased from 700,000 (350,000 annually) from 2012 and 2013 to 1.1 million (or 550,000 annually) in 2014 and 2015.
• New legal immigrants, both temporary and permanent, have increased around 30% from 1.6 million in 2012-2013 to 2 million in 2014-2015.
This immigration increase can be attributed to lack of interior enforcement, the Obama administration’s catch and release policy for border apprehensions, and an increase in temporary worker visas passed by Congress in last year’s omnibus bill.
Read the full study at CIS.org.
