By Jeffrey H. Anderson | Commentary, Real Clear Politics
Most mainstream press accounts have largely ignored one obvious source of the Los Angeles riots – namely, that the Biden administration released more than enough illegal aliens into this country to populate a wholly new Los Angeles. In the aftermath of those riots, it’s an appropriate time to ask this question: How many illegal aliens did the Biden administration actually let into the United States?
According to the Congressional Budget Office, during the four years from 2021 through 2024, a net 10.3 million people immigrated to the U.S. That figure reflects the number of (legal or illegal) immigrants who entered the U.S., minus the number who left. As a result of this huge immigration influx, the portion of the U.S. population that is foreign-born hit 16.2%, per the CBO, surpassing the all-time record of 14.8% set in 1890. That mark lasted for more than 130 years, but it couldn’t survive the Biden administration.
In fact, the percentage of the population that is foreign-born is probably even higher than 16.2%, as that figure was for 2023 (up from 15.6% in 2022). Since a net 2.7 million people immigrated to the U.S. in 2024, according to the CBO, and about 500,000 foreign-born residents die annually (based on the CBO’s estimate for 2023), the foreign-born population rose by an estimated 2.2 million in 2024 – from 55.1 million to about 57.3 million. So, the percentage of the population that is foreign-born likely hit about 16.8% last year (57.3 million out of 342 million). In comparison, in 1970, the portion of the U.S. population that was foreign-born was 4.7% – just over a quarter as high.
Put otherwise, on the cusp of next year’s Quarter-Millennial anniversary of American independence, about one out of every six people now living in the U.S. is foreign-born, versus one out of every 21 on the eve of the Bicentennial. That’s a massive population transformation – one unlike anything our country has ever previously experienced.
Most of those who were added to the foreign-born population during the Biden years were added illegally. From 2021 through 2024 – a period that coincides almost perfectly with Biden’s presidential term (having 97% overlap) – the net increase in the number of illegal aliens in the U.S., based on CBO estimates, was 7.1 million people. In comparison, the entire population of Los Angeles is 3.9 million.
Note that this represents the net increase. The gross increase in the number of illegal aliens under Biden was likely close to 10 million. The CBO only estimates the gross increase for a portion of Biden’s term, but its partial tallies can yield a reasonable estimate for the whole four-year span.
Citing numbers that it obtained from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the CBO estimates that in 2023 and 2024, the gross increase in the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. was 5.9 million, while the net increase was 4.3 million. That’s about four new illegal aliens added (by being released into the country, evading capture, or overstaying a legal authorization) for every one that was subtracted (by leaving or being legalized), so the ratio between the gross increase and the net increase was about four to three. Assuming that same ratio in 2021 and 2022, when the CBO estimates that the net increase in the number of illegal aliens was 2.9 million, suggests that the gross increase over that span was about 3.9 million. Adding the 5.9 million cited above reveals a gross increase of about 9.8 million illegal aliens across Biden’s four years. That’s more than the population of New York City – or all of New Jersey.
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