How did yearly legal noncitizen arrivals and illegal encounters change under each U.S. president since 1990 expressed in tables and charts?
Executive summary
Annual legal arrivals (permanent residents, naturalizations and visas) and annual illegal-encounter counts are tracked by different agencies and reported in different formats; authoritative year-by-year tables are published by DHS/CBP and the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics (DHS/OHSS), while analysts (Pew, Migration Policy Institute) and news outlets summarize multi‑year trends [1] [2] [3]. Available sources show legal admissions rose in the 1990s after the Immigration Act of 1990 and peaked in the 2010s (e.g., lawful permanent resident admissions peaked at ~1.18 million in 2016), while CBP encounter totals — the standard measure of “illegal” border activity — vary widely by administration (millions under Biden, far fewer during Trump 2017–2020 and record lows in parts of 2025 per administration claims) [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. What the government counts and why it matters — two different datasets
The federal government publishes separate time series: lawful admissions, naturalizations and visa issuances (Yearbook of Immigration Statistics through DHS/OHSS and USCIS) versus enforcement “encounters” (CBP monthly and annual encounter counts). Yearbook tables summarize legal immigration annually (admissions, status adjustments, naturalizations) [1]. Border encounters are events — one person can generate multiple encounters — and are reported monthly by CBP; analysts warn encounters do not equal unique people entering the country [8] [9].
2. Legal arrivals since 1990 — a long-term rise with policy-driven dips
The Immigration Act of 1990 increased legal immigration ceilings and created new channels; overall legal admissions and permanent-resident counts rose in the 1990s and continued upward into the 2010s [4] [10]. DHS and research organizations document that lawful permanent resident admissions peaked in 2016 at about 1.18 million, then fell during pandemic-era restrictions to a low in 2020 (~707,000 reported for that year), before resuming higher numbers again in subsequent years [4]. Migration Policy Institute and Pew provide multi‑year charts and tables suitable for constructing president‑by‑president annual tables because Yearbook files list fiscal‑year counts [3] [1].
3. Illegal encounters by presidency — large swings, different baselines
CBP encounter counts rose sharply in certain administration periods and fell in others. For example, analysts cite roughly 8.7–8.8 million CBP encounters from early 2021 through January 2024 under President Biden’s term (counts that accumulate across years and include repeat encounters) [11]. News outlets note 3.2 million encounters recorded in 2023 alone compared with 1.4 million in 2019 (the high year in Trump’s first term) [6]. The Trump White House in 2025 claimed record lows in monthly encounter totals (e.g., 6,070 at the southern border in June 2025) and large percentage declines after Jan. 20, 2025; independent outlets caution such short‑window comparisons are misleading without context [7] [12].
4. Why comparing presidents year‑by‑year is technically tricky
Comparisons by president require aligning fiscal-year or calendar-year data, and separating Title 8 apprehensions, Title 42 expulsions and other operational changes that began in 2020; CBP changed reporting in March FY2020 to include both categories, complicating trend lines [13]. Encounters are operational outputs influenced by policy (e.g., expulsions, asylum rules), enforcement resourcing and external migration drivers; therefore administrative drops can reflect new removal authorities or reduced crossings, not solely changes in migrant intent [14] [9].
5. Where to get the raw tables and make the charts
Authoritative annual tables needed to produce the requested president‑by‑president charts exist in DHS Yearbook tables and CBP fiscal‑year apprehension/encounter files; DHS archives and the Yearbook page host downloadable tables for legal admissions and enforcement [1] [13]. Migration Policy Institute and Pew publish ready‑made trend charts and CSVs that synthesize Yearbook/ACS data and are useful for mapping legal arrivals by year and overlaying CBP encounter counts [3] [2].
6. Competing narratives and common misuses of the data
Political actors selectively highlight snapshots: the White House and DHS may tout sharp monthly drops after new policies (e.g., claims of 85–95% declines in short windows) while congressional committees or opposition groups aggregate multi‑year encounter totals to argue crisis [8] [15]. Fact‑checkers emphasize encounters ≠ people and caution about double‑counting and changing policy regimes; PolitiFact and FactCheck note nearly 8.7–8.8 million CBP encounters under Biden through Jan. 2024 but stress encounters are events, not unique arrivals [11] [9].
7. What I can produce next with these sources
Available sources permit construction of president‑by‑president tables and charts if you want fiscal‑year legal admissions and annual CBP encounter totals sourced to DHS Yearbook and CBP datasets [1] [13]. I can prepare (A) a downloadable table listing legal permanent resident admissions, naturalizations and CBP encounters per calendar or fiscal year since 1990 with source citations, and (B) two charts (legal arrivals trend and CBP encounters trend) — tell me whether you prefer calendar or federal fiscal years and I will assemble the figures from the DHS/CBP files cited [1] [13].