A new report claims that around 2.5 million undocumented immigrants – an average of around 400,000 per annum – have arrived in the United States in the six years since President Obama was first elected in 2009. This claim is based upon data provided by US Census Bureau, the Center for Migration Studies and Pew Research Center.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released the new report yesterday. Immigration numbers began to increase rapidly between the middle of 2013 and today, with 790,000 individuals entering the United States. Many see this as a result of the executive action taken by the president in 2012 to allow some undocumented immigrants who came to the country when they were children to remain. There are more immigrants entering than leaving the US, with the CIS suggesting that the deferred action program introduced by Obama has prevented the number of undocumented immigrants in the country being reduced.
“Had the United States not allowed so many new illegal immigrants to settle in the country since 2009, the total number of illegal immigrants would have fallen by 2.5 million,” the report claims. “But the arrival of so many new illegal immigrants offset this attrition in the illegal population.”
Obama announced yet another executive action relating to immigration reform late last year, giving temporary legal status to another four million undocumented immigrants; however, the president is currently unable to implement this program due to a legal challenge from a number of states led by Texas.