According to recent statistics from the Census Bureau, net immigration in the United States is currently negative. This information was shared on Wednesday and comes with the backing of the Trump administration.
The Department of Homeland Security reacted to this release, asserting that aggressive deportation strategies were instrumental in achieving this goal. In their statement, they noted that, “Nearly 3 million illegal aliens have left the United States in just one year under the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.”
Population growth has notably slowed, with an increase of just 0.5%, or about 1.8 million people, between July 2024 and July 2025. This marks a significant decline compared to earlier years. For perspective, during the last year of the Biden administration, the population grew by 1%, representing the highest growth rate since the latter part of George W. Bush’s presidency in 2006.
Kristin Hartley, who is the deputy director of estimates and projections at the Census Bureau, stated that the slowdown is mainly tied to “historic declines in net international immigration.”
On another note, birth and death rates across the country remain stable compared to 2024, with experts attributing some of the population changes to net immigration figures. Almost all states saw a slowdown in population growth or an increase in population decline, except for West Virginia and Montana. Notably, South Carolina was highlighted as the fastest growing state, gaining over 66,000 people from domestic migration.
The White House had previously applauded the aim of achieving “negative net immigration” in a statement made in August. Similarly, President Trump, alongside the Department of Homeland Security, claimed that the end of what they termed the “immigration invasion,” and the deportation initiatives led by Secretary Kristi Noem were accurate measures of their success.
At one point, Noem mentioned that about 1.6 million illegal immigrants had “departed” from the U.S. within the first 200 days of Trump’s presidency, with supporters arguing that these mass deportation tactics likely encouraged self-deportation, which might have contributed to the current statistics.
Noem remarked, “This is a huge deal. It means safer streets, money for taxpayers, less pressure on schools and hospital services, and more job opportunities for Americans. Thank you, President Trump.”
During a visit to Arizona last year, border czar Tom Homan mentioned that 90% of asylum seekers would probably be ordered for deportation due to fraudulent claims. He noted, “We cannot ignore the order of dismissal, which demands due process and is a decision made after that due process.”
