(José Niño, Headline USA) The American Community Survey estimated the nation’s immigrant population at 50.4 million in 2025, only slightly above the previous year’s 50.2 million. Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, highlighted the figures in a new analysis describing a substantial slowdown after an earlier period of rapid expansion.
Using the more precise figures cited in his report, Camarota calculated an increase of approximately 174,000 between 2024 and 2025. That compares with an increase of roughly 2.4 million between 2023 and 2024. The population therefore continued growing in the ACS estimate, but at a considerably slower pace.
The survey’s timing limits what it can reveal about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Camarota describes the 2025 ACS as reflecting conditions around the middle of that year, covering only the opening months of Trump’s second administration. It cannot establish the effects of policies implemented afterward.
Camarota attributes the change partly to developments near the end of the Biden administration and the beginning of Trump’s term, particularly reduced unauthorized arrivals.
Separate Census Bureau surveys point toward a subsequent decline. According to Camarota’s report, the Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement estimated approximately 790,000 fewer immigrant residents in March 2026 than in March 2025. Monthly CPS estimates from the summer indicated a decrease of roughly 590,000 compared with the corresponding period in 2025.
Both CPS measures had previously shown slower growth between 2024 and 2025, although they estimated a larger immigrant population than the ACS. Those differences make it important to compare changes within each survey rather than treating their population totals as interchangeable.
Taken together, the findings describe two distinct developments. The ACS recorded sharply reduced growth in 2025, while the separate CPS estimates cited by Camarota indicated contraction during 2026.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
