CIS report: Roughly 1 million illegal immigrants have left the U.S. since January

By lauraharris // 2025-06-24

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A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimates that nearly 1 million illegal immigrants have left the U.S. since President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025.
The report attributes the decline to the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement, including deportation efforts and crackdowns on sanctuary cities and high-risk worksites.
CIS based its estimate on federal survey data, focusing on noncitizens from Latin America who entered the U.S. after 1980 – commonly used as a proxy for the undocumented population.
The report follows Trump's directive to mobilize "every resource" for the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history, prioritizing sanctuary cities like Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
CIS cautioned that its conclusions are preliminary and may be affected by underreporting, as heightened enforcement could make undocumented immigrants less likely to respond to surveys.

A new Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) report has revealed that nearly one million illegal immigrants have left the U.S. since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 with a renewed focus on immigration enforcement. The report, which analyzes federal survey data through May, suggests the decline is likely tied to the aggressive push of the Trump administration to ramp up deportations and crackdown on so-called "sanctuary" cities. It also cites renewed enforcement actions at farms, hotels and other workplaces that often employ undocumented labor. "The number of illegal immigrants has fallen by 1 million since the start of the year, perhaps due to their leaving in response to President Trump's election and stepped-up enforcement efforts," CIS wrote in the report, released on June 19. CIS, a Washington-based nonprofit that advocates for stricter immigration controls, based its estimate on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey (CPS). Researchers focused on a key demographic: noncitizens from Latin America who entered the U.S. after 1980, a population frequently used by federal agencies as a stand-in for the broader illegal immigrant population. (Related: SECURE BORDERS: Trump's border czar reports historic low in illegal immigrant encounters.) After adjusting for those legally present in the country, CIS calculated a net decline of 957,000 such individuals between January and May. That would bring the estimated number of illegal immigrants in the country to 14.8 million, down from 15.8 million at the start of the year. The report stops short of claiming a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but it strongly implies that the Trump administration's policies are a key factor. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has resumed high-profile workplace raids and the administration has pressured local governments to cooperate with federal immigration detainers or face cuts in funding. CIS was careful to note that its findings are preliminary and subject to revision as more data becomes available. It also acknowledged that the apparent drop may be partially due to increased reluctance among undocumented immigrants to participate in government surveys, potentially skewing results. Moreover, the broader foreign-born population has not seen a statistically significant decline, suggesting that any exodus is limited to particular segments of the immigrant community.

Trump orders federal agencies to focus on sanctuary cities and high-risk worksites

The CIS report comes just days after Trump ordered federal agencies to focus their mass deportation efforts on sanctuary cities and high-risk worksites across the country. In a post on his Truth Social platform on June 16, Trump declared that his administration would "mobilize every resource" to carry out the unprecedented operation, particularly on cities with sanctuary policies, such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago – jurisdictions where local officials limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. "I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia. Our Federal Government will continue to be focused on the REMIGRATION of Aliens to the places from where they came, and preventing the admission of ANYONE who undermines the domestic tranquility of the United States," Trump wrote. He then pledged his "unwavering support" to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Defense and other federal agencies involved in immigration enforcement. Follow InvasionUSA.news for more stories about illegal immigration in America. Watch this video discussing the beginning of Trump's mass deportation program.

This video is from the Sanivan channel on Brighteon.com.

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Trump orders federal agencies to focus on sanctuary cities and high-risk worksites

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