Tipsheet

U.S. Sees Net Negative Migration for the First Time in Decades

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  January 14, 2026 10:00 AM

Last February, when we were less than a month into President Trump's second term, the impact of his border policies was already being felt. Border crossings dropped a whopping 90 percent during his first 25 days in office, proving we didn't need more immigration laws, just a President who enforced the laws already on the books.

By August, 1.6 million illegal immigrants had exited the United States. 

And now the U.S. has seen net negative for the first time in decades.

Here's more:

The report published this week by the Brookings Institution said, "There was a significant drop-off in entries to the United States in 2025 relative to 2024 and an increase in enforcement activity leading to removals and voluntary departures." 

"We estimate that net migration was between –10,000 and –295,000 in 2025, the first time in at least half a century it has been negative," it continued. "In our assessment, net migration is likely to be very low or negative in 2026 as well." 

"Reduced migration will dampen growth in the labor force, consumer spending, and gross domestic product (GDP). We estimate the sustainable pace of monthly job growth to be between 20,000 and 50,000 in late 2025 and believe it could be negative in 2026," the report added.

Even ABC News had to report the seismic shift.

During the Biden administration, the U.S. was seeing a flood of illegal immigrants crossing our borders, with estimates saying two to three million crossed the border each year.

Back in August, even CNN had to report that the U.S. would see net negative migration.

In November, the Department of Homeland Security projected this net negative migration and reports showed the foreign-born population declined by 2.2 million in 2025.

Many linked this good news to the uptick in anti-ICE rhetoric from Democrats and the Left.

This is President Trump doing what he was elected to do: turn the tide of illegal immigration.

President Trump ran on a platform of deporting illegal immigrants and securing our border, and he's done that so well the U.S. is seeing migration levels unheard of for the better part of a century. That's promises made, promises kept.