The foreign-born population of the United States has fallen by roughly 2 million since President Donald Trump took office, reversing the more than 7 million increase under President Joe Biden. Recent reporting shows why these deportations cannot come quickly enough, and new polling reveals a striking reality: although many legal immigrants are frustrated by the removals, they also overwhelmingly acknowledge that they are “necessary.”

The Current Population Survey, administered by the Census Bureau but published by the Labor Department every month, was not designed to track the foreign born population of the United States, but it is the best dataset we have and the most recent report, released this past Thursday shows that the foreign-born population aged 16 and older has fallen by 2 million since January of this year. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that the total foreign-born decrease, including children, is 2.4 million. This would be the first decrease in over 50 years and comes after a record 7 million increase under Biden, most of whom had no legal right to enter.