During last year's campaign, President Donald Trump pledged to secure America's southern border and deport illegal migrants on a massive scale.

Trump appears to be making good on that promise, with new research finding that the foreign-born population has dropped by 2.2 million since he took office. 

Report looks at Census Bureau data

According to Breitbart, that was the conclusion reached by a recent report put out by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) on Wednesday.

The Current Population Survey continues to show a decline in the foreign born population.

The decrease might be dismissed as an anomaly if only one month showed a much smaller population compared to Jan.

But multiple months now show a large decline.https://t.co/JUFgpmXJhA

— Center for Immigration Studies (@CIS_org) October 8, 2025

The material was authored by demographer Karen Zeigler and Steven A. Camarota, who serves as director of research at CIS.

They pointed to monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) results published by the United States Census Bureau which indicated a decline in both legal and illegal residents.

DHS says roughly 2 million aliens have been deported or left voluntarily

"The decrease in the foreign-born might be dismissed as a statistical anomaly if only one month showed a much smaller foreign-born population compared to January," Zeigler and Camarota acknowledged.

However, the pair went on to stress that "multiple months of CPS data show a large decline in the foreign-born after January."

"We think the evidence is strong that most or all of the decline in the foreign-born population shown in the CPS is real and primarily reflects a reduction in new arrivals and, in particular, a large increase in emigration," they asserted.

Zeigler and Camarota went on to contend that a reduction in the number of illegal immigrants accounted "for nearly three-fourths of the falloff."

Those who self-deport can receive a $1,000 exit bonus

Meanwhile, Breitbart reported late last month how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimated that some 2 million illegal migrants have either been removed or left voluntarily.

This figure includes roughly 400,000 thousand individuals who have been deported and another 1.6 million who opted for self-deportation.

DHS's website explains that it is offering "a $1,000 exit bonus to facilitate travel back to their home country or another country where they have lawful status through the CBP Home Mobile App."

What's more, illegal aliens who leave the country on their own accord are eligible for "forgiveness of any failure to depart fines" along with "cost-free travel."