Washington, D.C. (November 20, 2025) – September data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows the foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal) continues to decline. However, today’s Employment Situation Report, based on the Current Population Survey (CPS), also called the household survey, only reports the size of the foreign-born ages 16 and older ( Table A-7). The Center’s analysis of prior months’ raw data showed a huge decline in the foreign-born from January through July, including a 1.6 million falloff in illegal immigrants. The limited information available for September indicates that the decline has continued to some extent.
“We cannot look at the data in any detail yet, but what has been released confirms that the illegal immigrant population is substantially smaller now than it was at the start of the year,” said Steven Camarota, the Center’s Director of Research.
What the information released so far shows:
- The September CPS data show an additional 101,000 falloff in the 16 and older foreign-born population since July. This follows a 1.9 million decline from January to July.
- The decline in the 16+ population since President Trump took office in January is 2 million. Based on the data released so far, the decline in the total foreign-born population is likely around 2.3 million January to September of this year.
- This represents a dramatic reversal from the 7.4 million increase from January 2021 to January 2025 in the 16+ foreign-born population.
- Once the raw data is released, the Center for Immigration Studies will be able to analyze it and report the size of the entire foreign-born population and provide a new estimate of the illegal immigrant population.
- The new data indicates that the number of immigrants working continued to decline, while the number of U.S.-born people employed continued to increase since the start of the year. However, as we have previously noted, the growth in the U.S.-born workers should be interpreted with caution due to the way the data is weighted.
- While our prior analysis showed that the decline in the foreign-born in the CPS was almost certainly real, it is possible the decline was due, at least in part, to a greater reluctance by immigrants to participate in the survey or to identify as foreign-born.
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