The Center for Immigration Studies released a new report, based on monthly Census Bureau data, that shows the legal immigrant and illegal alien population in the second quarter of this year reached a record of 42.1 million. It has increased by 1.7 million in just the last year alone.
According to this report, immigrants make up 13.3 percent of the nation's total population, the highest percent in over 100 years. This increase is largely the result of a new wave of immigrants coming from Mexico. Prior research showed the net migration of immigrants coming and leaving the US from Mexico had been zero but since last year's border surge this number is increasing rapidly.
Mexican immigrants increased by 740,000 from 2014, accounting for 44 percent of the increase in the total immigrant population in the last year. There was also an increase of 449,000 immigrants from Latin American countries other than Mexico. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that 8 out of 10 illegal aliens are from Mexico and Latin America.
Steven Camarota, co-author of this report and the Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies said, "The rapid growth in the immigrant population was foreseeable given the cutbacks in enforcement, our expansive legal immigration system, and the improvement in the economy. But the question remains, is it in the nation's interest?"
The immigrant population in the United States has reached record levels but the majority of these immigrants, including those from Latin America, are here legally. Unless there is a change in immigration policy these numbers will continue to grow.
Read more on this story at The Center for immigration Studies.
You can download the full CIS report here.
