U.S. now has 13.7 MILLION illegal immigrants: Staggering figures reveal border crossers living in America has surged by 3.7 million since Biden came into office and there are 172,000 new foreign-born arrivals every month

A wave of illegal immigration under President Joe Biden’s tenure has contributed to a record number of foreign-born living in the United States, a new study found.

The United States now has 13.7 million illegal immigrants living in America and 3.7 million of them came in since Biden took office in January 2021, according to a new study from the Center for Immigration Studies.

Overall, the total foreign-born population – both legal and illegal – hit a new record of 51.4 million in February 2024, which is an increase of 6.4 million under Biden.

Illegal immigration and border security have become a hot political issue as the incumbent president seeks a second term in office. Voters have given him low marks for his handling of the issue, polls show.

Biden visited the border in Brownsville, Texas, last month, which was his second time visiting the line dividing the U.S. and Mexico since he took office. 

Meanwhile, the study also found that the overall population of foreign-born living in America is increasing by an average 172,000 a month.

That is four times the 42,000 average monthly increase under President Donald Trump before Covid-19 hit and double the 68,000 average under President Barack Obama. 

In February, the foreign-born population in the United States hit a new high of 51.4 million and 15.5 percent of the U.S. population, which is more than all prior records.

The foreign-born share of the U.S. population has more than tripled since 1970, nearly doubled since 1990, and is up 40 percent just since 2000.

The new study comes as a migrant caravan of more than 2,000 people set off from Chiapas, Mexico, earlier this week and are headed to the El Paso border area. 

The Way of the Cross caravan is organized by Mexican activists in Chiapas to ensure the safety of the migrants, who are often taken advantage of by criminals and authorities. 

‘Migrants have no other option but to walk as part of a group or hitch a ride in a trailer that could be their death,’ Luis Villagran, an organizer with the Center for Human Dignity told Telemundo.

Biden, meanwhile, has blamed Republicans and his presidential rival Donald Trump for the border crisis.

At a fundraiser in Texas last week, Biden blasted Trump for the trouble at the border.

‘Trump didn’t just bring chaos to Americans. He also brought chaos to the American border,’ Biden said.

He blamed the former president for killing a bipartisan border bill in Congress by coming out against it. It has passed the Senate but House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to bring it to the floor after Trump announced his opposition.

The bill included over $20 billion for border security that would add new Customs and Border Patrol agents, add more asylum officers to increase that process time, and add more immigration judges.

Conservative Republicans argued the bill is not strong enough. 

More than 2,000 migrants are walking in the ‘Way of the Cross’ caravan to make their way to the  U.S. border at El Paso

President Joe Biden visiting the U.S. border in Brownsville, Texas, last month – voters give him low marks for his handling of border security and immigration 

The caravan started from Chiapas, Mexico, earlier this week and was put together by organizers concerned about migrants’ safety as they made their way through Mexico

Trump, meanwhile, has vowed to implement a series of policies including reinstating and expanding his travel ban on people coming into the U.S. from certain majority-Muslim countries; conducting what he calls the largest deportation operation in the country’s history; and continuing to build his southern border wall.

‘We’re gonna straighten things out,’ Trump has said.

Voters have gotten increasingly concerned about the border.

According to a February Gallup poll, 28% of Americans say immigration is the most important problem, up from 20% in January.

An ABC News/Ipsos poll from January found Biden had just an 18% approval rating for his handling of immigration at the southern border.