How many illegal aliens entered the us under Biden

1. What people mean — encounters, admissions, or net population change

Counting “how many entered” requires defining the metric: border “encounters” are recorded interactions that include apprehensions and turnbacks, and do not equal unique people who settled in the United States; DHS and reporting show millions of encounters under Biden, but many resulted in removals or expulsions rather than permanent residence (FactCheck notes 6.5 million encounters in a defined period and that about 2.5 million were released while 2.8 million were removed or expelled in early reporting) ^[3].

2. The most-used benchmark: the unauthorized population estimate

Demographers estimate the size of the unauthorized (undocumented) population rather than summing border contacts; Pew Research reported a record 14 million unauthorized immigrants in 2023 — the highest on record — which reflects cumulative change from multiple administrations and specific parole programs, not a simple tally of “entries under Biden” ^[2].

3. Net increase estimates during Biden’s term

Several independent analyses converge on a net increase in the undocumented population in the single- to low‑millions range during Biden’s time in office: a Cato Institute assessment estimated a net rise of roughly 5.5–6 million undocumented people during the Biden presidency based on pre‑2020 trends and more recent flows ^[1]. That is far below the 20–30 million figure pushed in some political commentary; news fact checks have repeatedly flagged such higher claims as conflating encounter totals with unique new residents ^{[4] [5]}.

4. Why encounter totals inflate political claims

Political and advocacy pieces sometimes use cumulative “encounters” (total interactions at the border) to imply the same number of new residents; this is misleading because encounters include repeat crossers, expulsions, and people later removed. For example, government and fact‑checking reporting emphasized that while encounters soared, a large share did not translate into long‑term settlement — DHS data show many removals and releases amid the millions of recorded encounters ^{[3] [6]}. Newsweek and other fact checks explicitly warn against equating raw encounter counts with permanent additions to the undocumented population ^[4].

5. Contrasting partisan claims and selective figures

Republican congressional witnesses and partisan outlets have produced larger numbers — a House witness claimed 6.7 million “new inadmissible aliens…entered the nation and taken up residence” in three years, and other Republican materials cite encounter differences to criticize Biden ^{[7] [8]}. These sources often conflate encounters, parole admissions (such as CHNV parole that admitted about 160,000 under a specific program), and net population change; independent demographers and nonpartisan research organizations warn this produces exaggerated impressions ^{[2] [4]}. Migration Policy Center and other analysts highlight countervailing actions such as millions of repatriations and removals that also occurred under Biden, underscoring complexity in any single “how many entered” number ^[6].

6. Bottom line and limits of the record

The best-supported, nonpartisan synthesis is that the undocumented population rose by several million during the Biden presidency (estimates around 5.5–6 million), while government encounter totals are much larger but cannot be read as unique, stayed‑here entrants; claims of 20–30 million new illegal entrants who remained are not supported by the cited demographic research or by fact checks ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}. Available sources present alternative measurements and partisan agendas — congressional partisan reports tend to emphasize encounter totals to criticize policy while demographers focus on net population estimates — and no source in the record provides a validated 20‑million figure of unique, stayed entrants ^{[7] [5]}.