Illegal immigrant population hits record 12 million after Biden-era surge, Pew study finds
By lauraharris // 2025-08-25
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  • A Pew Research Center report revealed the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. reached 12 million in 2023, following a 3.5 million increase in just two years under former President Joe Biden.
  • Pew attributes the surge to unlawful border crossings, visa overstays and expanded protections under Biden’s rollback of Trump-era immigration restrictions, including ending the "Remain in Mexico" policy.
  • As of mid-2023, around 6 million illegal immigrants were shielded from deportation through federal programs such as asylum, DACA, TPS, parole and crime victim protections.
  • In contrast, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced that since President Donald Trump took office, 1.6 million illegal immigrants have left the country through deportation or voluntary return.
  • The Trump administration launched Operation Homecoming, an international campaign urging self-deportation, alongside enhanced ICE and CBP operations. Incentives include $1,000 and free airfare for voluntary departure.
A new analysis by the Pew Research Center has revealed that the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States reached a record 12 million in 2023, following two consecutive years of historic growth under former President Joe Biden. The report, released on Aug. 21, shows an increase of 3.5 million immigrants without permanent legal status since 2021 – the largest two-year surge ever recorded. Pew researchers attributed the spike to a combination of unlawful border crossings, visa overstays and migrants living in the U.S. under temporary legal protections. More than half of these 12 million immigrants, roughly six million, were shielded from deportation under various federal programs as of July 2023. That figure more than doubled from 2.7 million in 2021. According to Pew, the six million migrants protected from deportation in 2023 included:
  • 2.6 million asylum seekers with pending cases
  • 700,000 individuals paroled into the country legally
  • 700,000 victims of crime or violence
  • 650,000 with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to crises in their home countries
  • 600,000 participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program
An additional 2 million were released or paroled into the U.S. under various federal programs, often while awaiting immigration hearings. The analysis points to significant policy changes under the Biden administration as a key driver of the increase. After taking office in 2021, Biden reversed a number of restrictive immigration measures imposed during Trump's first term – including the "Remain in Mexico" policy, which required asylum seekers to wait outside the U.S. while their cases were reviewed. Brighteon.AI's Enoch also stated that the Biden administration expanded humanitarian parole programs and increased protections for certain migrant groups. (Related: Democrats under fire for helping illegal immigrants evade deportation.)

Noem: 1.6M illegal immigrants gone since Trump took office

In contrast, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Aug. 14 that since the start of Trump's term, roughly 1.6 million individuals without legal immigration status have left the U.S., either through deportation or by voluntarily returning to their home countries. The turnaround comes amid a sweeping shift in immigration enforcement. Under Operation Homecoming, DHS launched an aggressive international messaging campaign warning undocumented migrants to "LEAVE NOW" or face arrest and deportation. The campaign, described as a "multimillion-dollar, multilingual initiative," has been broadcast across Latin America and beyond. Additionally, the controversial CBP One App, which previously facilitated entry appointments for over a million migrants, has been scrapped. In its place, DHS has introduced the CBP Home App, designed to streamline voluntary departures. The program incentivizes self-deportation with a $1,000 cash offer and free airfare, funded by a combination of federal resources and private partnerships. "In less than 200 days, 1.6 MILLION illegal immigrants have left the United States population," said Noem. "This is massive. This means safer streets, taxpayer savings, pressure off of schools and hospital services and better job opportunities for Americans. Thank you, President Trump!" Noem also credited ramped-up enforcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Targeted operations have focused on the removal of criminal illegal aliens and recent border crossers, part of what the Trump administration is calling a return to the "most secure border in U.S. history." Visit InvasionUSA.news for more updates on illegal immigration in America. Watch this video from "Timcast IRL" discussing how the Black residents of Chicago are worried about being replaced by illegal immigrants.
This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

ACTIVE INVASION: At least 7.3 million illegal immigrants have crossed the southwest border under Joe Biden.

ICE data: Illegal immigrants have less than 5% chance of getting deported under current Biden administration policies.

DHS Secretary Mayorkas: Biden administration releasing over 85% of illegal immigrants directly into America.

Sources include: YourNews.com PewResearch.org Brighteon.AI DHS.gov Brighteon.com
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