We often hear from politicians that they are “against illegal immigration but in favor of legal immigration.”
Although this refrain may sound safely moderate, it actually ducks the critical policy questions related to immigration: Who may come? How many? And how do we enforce the limits we set?
Even as a record level of legal and illegal immigration is creating huge challenges for housing, schools, workplaces and hospitals, few people are answering these questions.
In February, the total foreign-born (immigrant) population, including legal and illegal immigrants, hit a record high of 51.4 million in the government’s monthly household survey, up 6.4 million since President Joe Biden took office. At 15.5% of the U.S. population, the foreign-born share has blown past the record high set in 1890 during the so-called “Great Wave” of immigration.
It is estimated that 3.7 million (58%) of the recent increase is because of illegal immigration. The increase in legal immigrants is also huge, at 2.7 million in just three years. The number of new arrivals was higher but was offset by those immigrants who went home or died in the last three years.