
We’ve seen a lot of indicators on the successes of President Trump’s border and immigration crackdowns, but one can never have too much good news. The latest report comes to us from the Center for Immigration Studies, which presents some data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing a big, beautiful decline in illegal immigration in the last year.
What was it that happened a year ago? Oh, yeah.
The big story in the Census Bureau’s newly released 2025 Population Estimates is an enormous decline in net international migration (NIM) — the difference between the total number of people entering and leaving the country. The Bureau reports significantly fewer foreign-born people arrived, and more departed than in prior years. The decline in new arrivals reflects fewer refugees admitted and a large falloff in the number of people released at the border.
The new estimates measure the last six months of Biden’s term and the first six months of Trump’s, mid-2024 to mid-2025. The Bureau projects NIM for mid-2025 to mid-2026 will slow further due to a further large decline in foreign-born immigration (arrivals) and an increase in emigration (departures), if trends continue.
The Bureau’s new estimate of net international migration indicates that the flow of illegal immigrants into the country responds to policy choices and is not uncontrollable, as was so often asserted, including during the Biden administration. Some of Biden’s changes at the end of his term and Trump’s policies in the first part of this year fundamentally changed the level of illegal immigration.
Not, note that this first mentions net international migration, which includes people coming to and leaving the United States legally. Those people are not the primary concern here; there are some criticisms to be made, for example, of the H1B visa system, but that’s not the huge, gaping sore that was illegal immigration under the Biden administration. And it’s a decline in illegal immigration that is driving this.
But note that statement: “…the flow of illegal immigrants into the country responds to policy choices and is not uncontrollable, as was so often asserted, including during the Biden administration.”
Well, duh.
Look at these numbers:
Among the key findings of the new estimates:
- The Census Bureau estimates that net international migration (NIM) fell to 1.26 million from mid-2024 to mid-2025, down from 2.73 million the year before. (See table NST-EST2025-ALLDATA)
- Net migration includes legal immigrants, illegal immigrants and the U.S.-born.
- The Bureau estimates that if present trends continue, NIM will fall to 321,000, mid-2025 to mid-2026. This is due to a projected further decline in new arrivals and another increase in emigration of the foreign-born.
From 2.73 million, down to 1.26 million, and if trends continue, and they should, net international migration will fall into the 300,000 range. That is remarkable.
Read More: ICE Is Taking Its Mission Abroad – and Europeans Are in Full Meltdown Mode
Yes, this is what we voted for. Few people are against any and all immigration; the president certainly isn’t. But we should expect people to come here legally. I’ve done a fair amount of international travel myself, and I can assure you that if I overstayed my visa and stayed in, say, Japan, China, or Germany illegally, I would be looking at deportation at the very least, not a bunch of cash and a taxpayer-funded apartment. So, sure, yes, give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. But let them come in accordance with our law, and let them expect to work. No more winking at the law, and no more free handouts. It’s working.
And no, I’m not tired of winning. Not by a long shot.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left’s lies, new legislation wasn’t needed to secure our border, just a new president.
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