The United States could see the migration of hundreds of thousands of people out of the country this year due to President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, Newsweek reported on Friday, citing a recently published study. However, experts believe his aggressive campaign of deportations and entry restrictions may shrink the foreign-born workforce, ultimately harming the economy.
In a recent research paper published by the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute (AEI), researchers estimated that net migration to the United States could range between 525,000 and 1.15 million this year, a figure they say reflects "a sharp decline in inflows and a modest rise in outflows."
This compares to roughly 1.3 million immigrants in 2024, according to Macrotrends, and 330,000 in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic brought global travel to a sudden halt. If the most conservative estimates prove accurate, the US could see negative net migration for the first time in decades.