US immigrant population drops for the first time in 50 years — as Trump seals the border and pushes mass deportations

The number of immigrants in the US has dropped for the first time in 50 years — declining by 1.5 million people in the first six months of 2025 after President Trump kicked off a major crackdown and all but closed the border to illegal crossings.

According to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, 51.9 million immigrants called the US home as of June — down from 53.3 million when Trump was inaugurated for his second term.

The Department of Homeland Security said that 1.6 million illegal migrants have voluntarily left the US since Trump came to office — contributing to the massive decline in the immigrant population.

The proportion of immigrants in the US is still at historic highs — with 15.4% of the population being foreign born, exceeding the levels of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the days of Ellis Island.

The US workforce is still 19% immigrants, according to Pew — down from 20% at the start of the year, but a reduction of 750,000 immigrant workers.

The figures emerged after six months of Trump administration slowing illegal US border crossings to a trickle, with fewer than 5,000 per month, and zero migrants released into the US.

The Trump administration has also begun a massive deportation push — with the goal of booting one million illegal migrants per year from the country.

DHS said Thursday that ICE and other federal agencies have arrested more than 359,000 illegal migrants — and deported 332,000 — during the first 200 days of the second Trump administration.

Additionally, the DHS estimated that 1.6 million migrants have voluntarily left the country in that time.

Trump has also taken steps like increasing access restrictions for asylum-seekers at the southern border and stepping up visa requirements for foreign-born students.

The State Department announced this week it had revoked around 6,000 student visas, many because holders had committed crimes like assault or burglary, but around 2-300 were clawed back due to alleged “support for terrorism.”

But the most sweeping efforts by the administration to crack down on foreigners entering the US comes from tightening its grip on illegal immigration, a far cry from the Biden administration during which an estimated 10 million illegal aliens entered the US via the Mexican border.

Under Trump, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been newly empowered under border czar Tom Homan to round up migrants and start deportation proceedings, particularly in Democrat-led sanctuary cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

The agency has been given a mandate to arrest 3,000 illegal migrants per day, which insiders told The Post has been difficult to meet on a consistent basis.

However, the agency is currently holding a record 60,000 illegal immigrants at facilities across the country, some awaiting processing for deportation and others choosing to self-deport to expedite the process.

The decline in immigration over the last six months aligns with Trump’s priorities. The commander-in-chief heralded the America’s negative net migration in a Truth Social post earlier this month, sharing a photo of a Border Patrol agent looking through binoculars with the caption “Negative net migration for the first time in 50 years!”

Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem also praised the reduction of the illegal immigrant population, saying in a statement last week that the decline “is already being felt nationwide, from reduced strain on public services to a resurgence in local job markets.”

The US experienced a similar exodus in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when an estimated 400,000 to 1 million Mexican immigrants departed the US, some under programs that encouraged them to return to their country of origin.

— Jennie Taer contributed additional reporting