Low immigration numbers lead to slowing population growth in the US
Population growth in the U.S. has significantly decreased, according to new data from the Census Bureau — an apparent effect of President Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict both legal and illegal immigration.
The latest data shows population growth in the majority of U.S. counties slowed from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025. The greatest decreases were in metropolitan areas, specifically those along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Immigration affects population growth
The figures cover the last few months of former President Joe Biden’s term and the first few months of Trump’s second term, when he launched an aggressive immigration crackdown, likely contributing to the lower numbers. The Census Bureau said net international migration (NIM) declined nationwide.
Three metropolitan areas along the border experienced the steepest decline in population growth. Laredo, Texas, went from a 3.2% growth rate in 2023 and 2024 to 0.2% in 2024 and 2025; Yuma, Arizona, went from 3.3% to 1.4%; and El Centro, California, went from a 1.2% growth rate to a population loss of -0.7%.
“The nation’s largest counties … are often international migration hubs, gaining large numbers of international migrants and losing people that move to other parts of the country via domestic migration,” George M. Hayward, a Census Bureau demographer, said in a press release. “With fewer gains from international migration, these types of counties saw their population growth diminish or even turn into loss.”
The impact of low immigration on the economy
Zeke Hernandez, a Wharton professor and author of “The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers,” says the low immigration and population growth numbers are “very concerning.”
“The whole problem is that immigrants were the recourse,” Hernandez told Straight Arrow News. “For decades, they’ve been making up for the talent, jobs, skills, consumption, and innovation that native born people cannot or will not provide.”
He went on to describe the pivotal role immigrants play in American society, detailing five critical contributions: investment, consumption, talent, innovation and taxes.
He noted that immigrants start businesses at an 80% higher rate than non-immigrants, thereby creating jobs. He also noted that they make up 18% of the labor force, account for 32% of patents and contribute approximately $100 billion in taxes annually.
“Immigrants don’t just ‘plug holes’ in the population and in the economy. Immigrants make non-immigrants more creative and productive,” Hernandez told SAN. “The combination of ideas, skills, and cultures produces all kinds of win-win innovations, products, businesses, and more.”
He said low immigration numbers lead to not only low population growth, but “the win-win outcomes also disappear and native-born people, businesses and communities can do less than before because of the loss of complementarities.”
“The situation is even worse than it seems,” Hernandez added.
What else the census data shows
While many counties saw a decrease in population growth, some areas did see an increase. Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Phoenix and Charlotte were the metros with the biggest growth in 2025. Plus, several midsize metros in Florida and South Carolina saw higher growth rates.
And while NIM declined, the nationwide natural change, which is calculated by taking the number of births and subtracting deaths, held steady.
Overall, the U.S. population grew 0.5% from July 2024 to 2025, down from 1% the year before.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
