A new analysis by the Census Bureau revealed that the nation’s immigrant population, which includes legal and illegal immigrants, grew by 4.1 million from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2015. This figure represents over 13% of the U.S. population, the biggest percentage in 105 years.
Some key findings in the new report:
- Growth in the last year was led by an increase of 740,000 in the number of Mexican immigrants — accounting for 44% of the increase in the total immigrant population in the last year.
- The total Mexican immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached 12.1 million in the second quarter of 2015 — the highest quarterly total ever.
- The Department of Homeland Security and other researchers have estimated that 8 in 10 illegal immigrants are from Mexico and Latin America.
Much of the new immigration is due to the flood of younger Latin Americans leaving troubled situations in their country of origin – a situation which does not appear to be improving with the surge of gangs and violence in Central America.