0-20 million people from all over the world rushed into our country under biden
Executive summary
The claim that “0–20 million people from all over the world rushed into our country under Biden” is unsupported as stated. Available reporting places most major measures and counts far below 20 million: Pew estimates a record 14.0 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2023 (not “new arrivals under Biden”), and CIS reports the foreign‑born population rose by about 8.3 million from January 2021 to January 2025 [1] [2].
1. What the numbers actually measure — different metrics, different stories
When sources discuss immigration they use varying measures — stock vs. flow, unauthorized vs. foreign‑born, encounters vs. residents — and those differences matter. Pew’s figure (14.0 million) is an estimate of the total unauthorized resident population in 2023, not the count of people who “rushed in” during a single presidency [1]. The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) documents an 8.3 million numerical increase in the foreign‑born population from January 2021 to January 2025, which is a net change in the resident foreign‑born population over four years, not a simple tally of border crossings or single‑year admissions [2].
2. Admissions, paroles and policy programs — substantial but not 20 million
Some Biden‑era programs increased arrivals or created new legal pathways. Pew notes about 530,000 migrants entered under the CHNV parole programs overall, and the administration had paused new CHNV admissions by late 2024 [1]. Migration Policy Institute and other reporting credit the Biden administration with restoring legal immigration levels after COVID and expanding refugee and parole processes — but these policy effects are measured in hundreds of thousands to millions over several years, not tens of millions in a single burst [3] [4].
3. Border encounters, repeats and net migration — nuance that cuts through headlines
Border “encounters” surged during parts of Biden’s term — MPI cited recorded 8.6 million migrant encounters at the U.S.–Mexico border in recent years — but many encounters were repeat attempts and do not equal unique new residents [4]. PBS warned against misleading comparisons that take a single daily or weekly encounter figure out of context; such snapshots can produce dramatic but inaccurate impressions [5].
4. Enforcement and removals — high activity, not the same as arrivals
Enforcement statistics are large and politically charged. Newsweek and TRAC reporting show hundreds of thousands of removals across recent years: Newsweek cites more than 4.6 million people removed between January 2021 and November 2024 according to government data, while TRAC and ICE datasets show hundreds of thousands of removals on fiscal‑year bases [6] [7]. Removals and arrests are enforcement actions, not measures of net immigration or the resident immigrant population.
5. Competing interpretations and political framing
Different organizations present alternative emphases. CIS highlights the unprecedented 8.3 million increase in the foreign‑born count in four years and frames that as an immigration surge [2]. Migration Policy Institute frames Biden’s legacy as one of restoring legal channels while managing unprecedented border pressures, noting both policy expansion and operational strain [3] [4]. These differing framings reflect institutional missions: CIS tends to emphasize numerical growth and policy consequences, MPI emphasizes policy context and program details.
6. What the available sources do not support
Available sources do not provide evidence that “0–20 million” people “rushed into” the U.S. under Biden as a single, discrete event or that 20 million new people entered solely during his term. The sources give population‑level increases (e.g., 8.3 million foreign‑born rise), estimates of resident unauthorized populations (14 million in 2023), and program counts measured in hundreds of thousands [2] [1]. They do not show a 20 million influx tied directly and exclusively to Biden administration policies.
7. Takeaway for readers — numbers require context, not slogans
Immigration is complex: policy changes, parole programs, asylum processing, repeated border encounters, lawful admissions and removals all feed different datasets. Use comparisons that match metric to claim: if someone cites “arrivals,” ask whether they mean encounters, admissions, parolees, net migration, or resident population. The most relevant numbers from current reporting are: a 14.0 million unauthorized resident estimate in 2023 (Pew) and an 8.3 million increase in the foreign‑born population from Jan 2021 to Jan 2025 [1] [2]. Claims of 20 million new entrants under Biden are not supported by the sources provided.