U.S. now has 13.7 million illegal immigrants, up 37% under Biden

President Biden’s wave of new illegal immigrants is upending the usual demographics of immigration and sending the education levels plummeting, according to a new report Thursday that raised big questions about the country’s ability to absorb the newcomers.

There are now 13.7 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., and 51.4 million immigrants overall — an increase of 6.4 million in three years since Mr.

Biden took office, the Center for Immigration Studies reported. That averages 172,000 new immigrants each month, or roughly four times the rate in the Trump years and nearly three times the rate in the Obama years.

“Education is the single best predictor of how you’re going to do in the United States. What kind of job you’re going to do. How much you’re going to make. What fraction are going to be in or near poverty. What fraction are going to qualify for welfare programs — particularly their children,” said Steven A. Camarota, the study’s lead author.

As recently as 2018, 55% of immigrants had a bachelor’s degree. That’s now dipped to just 41%. Meanwhile, the share who didn’t make it past high school has risen from 29% to 44%, Mr. Camarota figures. Those changes challenge a chief selling point for backers of high immigration rates.

“The improvement in the education level of recent immigrants was a very positive sign that at least a smaller fraction of new arrivals were likely to struggle in the United States.

But that’s changed, at least for now,” he said.

The U.S. now has by far the largest ratio of immigrants in its population, at 15.5%, up nearly 2 percentage points since 2020. The previous record was 14.8% in 1890.