A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has revealed a startling disparity in job growth distribution since 2019, with immigrants, both legal and illegal, claiming three-quarters of the gains while natural-born Americans have been left with just one-quarter. The study offers insight into the “historically strong job market” described by the New York Times and may shed light on the persistent dissatisfaction among voters regarding President Joe Biden’s economic performance.

The CIS analysis acknowledges that the country has added millions of jobs since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic but emphasizes that the majority of that employment growth has been absorbed by immigrants. A recent study from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that between May 2019 and May 2024, the number of employed natural-born Americans increased by 971,000, while the number of employed immigrants surged by 3.2 million.

The report also highlights a worrying trend in the labor force participation rate among U.S.-born men aged 25 to 54, which has plummeted to 88.4 percent, one of the lowest levels ever recorded and a significant drop from the 96 percent participation rate in 1960. For U.S.-born men in the same age range with a high school diploma or less, the labor force participation rate is a mere 81.6 percent, just marginally above the lowest level ever recorded.

The CIS report disputes the argument made by advocates who claim that there are insufficient workers without immigrants, emphasizing that this position disregards the long-term decline in labor force participation among U.S.-born men.

These findings come amidst a record-breaking surge in illegal immigration under the Biden administration, with officials documenting over 9.5 million nationwide encounters and an estimated 1.7 million illegal immigrant gotaways. Moreover, the foreign-born population residing in the United States has reached an unprecedented high of 51.6 million, marking an increase of 5.1 million since March 2022.