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Immigrants accounted for 80% of population growth in 2022

Currently, there are more than 333 million people with "resident" status. The foreign-born population is at an all-time high.

Green Card.

(Jude Matsalla / Flickr).

Published by
Verónica Silveri Pazos

A new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) revealed that last year, immigrants accounted for 80% of the population growth in the country. The population with "resident" status reached the highest level in U.S. history in 2022: more than 333 million people.

Iinternational migration ... accounted for roughly 80 percent of U.S. population growth in 2022. (...) Net migration of immigrants plus immigrant births once here (...) The net migration of immigrants plus births to immigrants once here accounted for roughly two-thirds to three-fourths of U.S. population growth over the last two decades.

The significant immigration policies implemented by the Biden administration are a huge factor influencing this trend. Last year, more than 2.4 million people were granted green cards and temporary work visas.

Green cards and "chain migration"

Annually, the country grants more than one million green cards through a process known as "chain migration." This mechanism allows naturalized immigrants to petition or sponsor their relatives living in another country. In other words, in a procedure that lasts for years, these relatives are authorized to move and reside legally in the U.S. because they have family members who are U.S. citizens. In 2021, more than six out of 10 residencies were awarded through this process.

Another of the most demanded mechanisms to obtain U.S. residency is through the Diversity Visa Lottery. This year, more than 15,000 people have already obtained residence cards through this process, which randomly awards up to 55,000 green cards per year to people who apply.

Illegal immigration would increase the figure to more than 90%

CIS researchers Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler indicated that "legal migration" was "the determinate factor in population growth." However, the figure would be even higher (90%) if the high levels of illegal immigration were taken into account.

The enormous scale of the border crisis and resulting illegal immigration as well as growth in the foreign-born population ... indicate that net migration is significantly higher than the 1.01 million estimated by the Census Bureau for 2022. If we are correct, then the U.S. population grew by significantly more than the bureau estimated and net international migration accounted for upwards of 90 percent of the increase in the last year.

Nonetheless, Americans want less legal immigration. A Rasmussen Reports poll found that 56% of voters want to see immigration levels reduced.

An all-time record: almost 70 million immigrants by 2060

Some previous research predicts that if current levels of legal immigration are not reduced, the foreign-born population will reach a record high of nearly 70 million people by 2060. Today's foreign-born immigrant population is already the largest recorded in the country's history.

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