Immigrant Numbers Fall For First Time In 50 Years, Indians Now Second Largest Group

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – The immigrant population in the United States has dropped for the first time in more than half a century, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

Mexico remains the largest source of immigrants in the U.S., with more than 11 million residents born there — about 22% of the total immigrant population. But its share has been falling steadily since 2010.

India has now emerged as the second-largest immigrant group, with 3.2 million people, or about 6% of the total. China follows with 3 million, also 6%, while the Philippines accounts for 2.1 million (4%) and Cuba 1.7 million (3%).

Pew estimates that the number of immigrants fell from 53.3 million in January 2025 — when President Donald Trump began his second term — to 51.9 million by June, a decline of over one million people. Immigrants now make up 15.4% of the U.S. population, down from 15.8% earlier this year, which had marked a modern high.

The labor force has also seen a sharp decline, with about 750,000 foreign-born workers leaving since January.

Pew researchers attributed the drop to a combination of factors, including Joe Biden’s 2024 restrictions on asylum applications, which reduced border crossings, and Trump’s 181 executive actions targeting immigration, covering both new arrivals and deportations. The report also noted that declining survey response rates among immigrants may have affected the estimates.

A separate analysis by the Guardian reported that more than 8,100 people have been deported to countries other than their country of origin in recent months.

The  U.S. State Department is also reviewing visa records for over 55 million foreign nationals.