The United States has entered uncharted territory: for the first time since the 1960s, its foreign-born population is shrinking. A new analysis by the Pew Research Center reveals that the number of immigrants living in the country dropped by nearly 1.5 million in just the first half of 2025—a reversal that comes after decades of steady growth and coincides directly with President Donald Trump’s aggressive second-term immigration agenda.

In January 2025, the U.S. counted a record 53.3 million immigrants. But instead of climbing higher, as it has nearly every year since the Johnson administration, the figure slid downward. Pew’s data shows that more people are now leaving the country than entering it, a reversal not seen in over half a century.

At the same time, Pew confirmed that the undocumented population reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023, a number Trump used relentlessly on the campaign trail to frame both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as weak on border control.

The data lands as Trump doubles down on his central campaign promise: reshaping America’s immigration system by force. Since returning to the Oval Office in January, he has signed 181 executive orders on immigration, rolling out mass deportations, ratcheting up border security, tightening student visa rules, and promoting “self-deportation” measures to pressure immigrants to leave voluntarily.

These efforts are leaving a measurable imprint. The immigrant share of the U.S. population has slipped from 15.8% in January to 15.4% in June, according to Pew.

The workforce is taking the hit as well. Immigrants—both legal and undocumented—make up a critical slice of America’s labor pool. Pew found that immigrant participation in the workforce fell from 20% to 19% in just six months, representing a net loss of more than 750,000 workers.

Economists warn the implications could be severe if the exodus continues. Industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor, from agriculture to construction to health care, could face tightening labor shortages. Whether that translates into slower growth or higher prices will depend on how far Trump pushes his enforcement regime in the coming months.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)