Study Shows Migrants Flocking To The South Over Other U.S Regions

(RepublicanPress.org) – According to census data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the immigrant population began to rapidly grow in the United States from 1970 to the present day. In 1970, a little over 9.6 million immigrants resided in the US, and that number steadily grew to about 46.2 million in 2022. A recent study shows where many foreign-born individuals choose to reside.

On June 28, Steven Camarota from the Center for Immigration Studies released a report showing that the population of foreign-born people, illegally and legally in the US, in the South has dramatically increased over the years, reaching 19 million. Camarota said data showed that the particular demographic boomed by 317% in the South between 1990 and 2024. That population growth in the southern states was significantly higher than the second runner-up — the Midwest — which reportedly saw a 172% increase over the same period. Coming in third was the West at 104% and the Northeast at 97%.

Getting into the specifics, the report delved into states where the population of foreign-born individuals was over 100,000 in 1990. Beginning in that year through 2024, North Carolina reportedly saw a 966% rise in the demographic, Georgia experienced a 754% increase, Virginia’s foreign-born population grew by 329%, Texas by 317%, and Florida saw a rise of 211%. Camarota also reported a significant increase in Maryland — a mid-Atlantic state — of 262%. The other three southern states mentioned, West Virginia, Alabama, and Mississippi, were virtually unaffected. According to the report, the South is now home to 37.3 of the overall foreign-born population in the United States, a 14.1% increase since 54 years ago and about a 5.4% increase since 2010.

Camarota stated that immigration policy is responsible for “reshaping the American South” but didn’t specify which policies he was referring to that would attract foreign-born individuals to the South more than any other region of the US. Beyond the demographic change in the landscape of the southern United States, it’s unclear what kind of effect — if any — the population change will have on the South.