The nation’s illegal alien population has dropped by 1.6 million since January, according to a new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies, which attributes the decline to intensified interior enforcement under President Donald Trump.
In a review of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, researchers Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler found that from January to July 2025, the total foreign-born population — both legal and illegal — fell by 2.2 million people, marking the largest six-month drop in a single year on record.
“Analysis of the [Current Population Survey] data shows the total foreign-born population of all ages, both in and out of the labor force, declined an unprecedented 2.2 million from January to July – the largest six-month decline ever within the same year,” the report stated.
The researchers estimate that illegal aliens accounted for most of the drop, falling by 1.6 million, or roughly 10 percent, from 15.8 million to 14.2 million. Meanwhile, the number of naturalized U.S. citizens has increased slightly over the same period.
The decline comes amid recent employment data showing that all job gains in recent months have gone to native-born Americans rather than foreign-born workers.
“While employers may be unhappy with a decline in illegal immigrant workers, reducing the supply of labor is likely to be very helpful to less-educated U.S.-born and legal-immigrant workers, whose wages may rise as a result,” the report said. “Further, a tighter labor market and higher wages may help to draw back into jobs the near-record number of working-age American men without a college degree not in the labor force.”
Reducing the overall illegal alien population has been a priority for the Trump administration, which has relied heavily on expanded interior enforcement and coordination between federal and local authorities.
The analysis contrasts sharply with trends under former President Joe Biden, whose administration oversaw an unprecedented influx of an estimated 8 million migrants — many of them illegal — over four years, according to Center for Immigration Studies estimates.
The report concluded that if the current trend continues, the Trump administration could see one of the most significant sustained declines in the illegal alien population in modern U.S. history.
