Trump’s immigration crackdown led to drop in US growth rate last year as population hit 342 million
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pressure on immigration The US population is expected to reach approximately 342 million people in 2025, contributing to the country’s decline in growth rate year over year. population estimates Published on Tuesday US Census Bureau.
The 0.5% growth rate for 2025 was the highest since 2001 and a sharp decline from the almost 1% growth rate in 2024, fueled by immigration. 2024 projections put the US population at 340 million people.
Immigration increased by 1.3 million people last year, compared to an increase of 2.8 million in 2024. The census report did not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration.
The lowest growth rate in the last 125 years was experienced in 2021. coronavirus outbreakWhen the US population increased by only 0.16%, or 522,000 people, and immigration to the US increased by only 376,000 people due to travel restrictions. The lowest growth rate before this was just under 0.5% in 1919. spanish flu.
Tuesday’s data release comes as researchers try to determine the effects of the second Trump administration. immigration pressure After the Republican president returns to the White House in January 2025. Trump caused an influx of immigrants at the southern border a central issue When he wins the 2024 presidential campaign.
The numbers made public Tuesday reflect the change from July 2024 to July 2025, which covers the end of President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration and the first half of Trump’s first year back in office.
The numbers reflect a period that reflects the beginning of enforcement increases in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, but do not reflect the impact on immigration of the Trump administration’s crackdown, which began in Chicago; New Orleans; Memphis, Tennessee; And Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The 2025 figures are a staggering difference from 2024, when net international migration accounted for 84% of the country’s 3.3 million increase from the previous year. The increase in immigration two years ago was due in part to: a new method We also started counting people admitted for humanitarian reasons.
“These reflect the recent trends we’ve seen in out-migration, where the number of people coming in is decreasing and the number of people leaving is increasing,” Eric Jensen, a senior research scientist with the Census Bureau, said last week.
Unlike the once-a-decade census, which determines how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets and the distribution of $2.8 trillion in annual government funding, population estimates are calculated from government records and the Census Bureau’s internal data.
The release of 2025 population estimates was delayed by the federal government shutdown last fall, coming at a challenging time for the Census Bureau and other U.S. statistical agencies. The bureau, the largest U.S. statistical agency, lost about 15% of its workforce last year. acquisitions and layoffs It was part of the White House’s cost-cutting efforts and Department of Public Efficiency.
Other recent actions by the Trump administration, such as Erika McEntarfer’s firing As commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, he expressed concerns about political interference by U.S. statistical agencies. But Brookings demographer William Frey said bureau staff were “doing this job as usual without interference.”
“So I have no reason to doubt the numbers that come out,” Frey said.
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