Colonial America saw immigration rates higher than those today, even after accounting for recent illegal immigration

New immigrants, legal and illegal, annual share of US population, 1700-2026

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Sources: Just for illegal: Robert Warren and John Robert Warren, "Unauthorized Immigration to the United States: Annual Estimates and Components of Change, by State, 1990 to 2010," International Migration Review 47, no. 2 (2013): 296–329; Robert Warren, "Reverse Migration to Mexico Led to US Undocumented Population Decline: 2010 to 2018," Journal on Migration and Human Security 8, no. 1 (2020); U.S. Customs and Border Protection, "United States Border Patrol Nationwide Encounters, Fiscal Years 1925–2020" (Beginning in March FY20, USBP encounters statistics include both Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions); U.S. Customs and Border Protection, "Nationwide Encounters"