Immigrant share of US pop: 15% in 2022
The immigrant share of the U.S. population dropped from ~15% in 1890 to 4.7% in 1970, then spiked back to about 14% as of 2022.
Snapshot · The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2457 - WHAT COMES NEXT After Awful SCOTUS Ruling?
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Jul 1, 2026
Where this was said
The Real History of How American Immigration Broke Down
At 31:10 · chapter starts 22:50
This is the analytical heart of the episode. Shapiro walks through immigration data chart by chart: in 1850, the top five foreign-born populations were Ireland, Germany, UK, Canada, and France; by 1910, Italy and Russia had entered the mix; by 1990, Mexico dominated at 4.26 million with the Philippines second at 910,000. [1] — Ben Shapiro "America's immigration crisis wasn't caused by Supreme Court rulings — it was caused by Congress and presidents over decades. The 1965 Immig…" 27:30 The immigrant share of the US population peaked near 15% in 1890, fell to 4.7% in 1970 following restrictive legislation, and has now climbed back to 14%. Shapiro's argument is cultural and structural: early immigrants came without welfare, self-selecting for ambition and willingness to assimilate. Once welfare was added and the 1965 Immigration Act scrapped national-origin quotas, the incentive structure changed fundamentally. He invokes his own great-great-grandparents — Yiddish-speaking immigrants who rapidly assimilated because there was no alternative — to illustrate the difference. The segment builds to the 'free donut shop' analogy: welfare transformed America from a self-selecting high-achievement destination to a benefits magnet drawing a structurally different population.
The Full History of How Immigration Policy Broke
America's immigration crisis wasn't caused by Supreme Court rulings — it was caused by Congress and presidents over decades. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act scrapped the quota system; LBJ's Great Society created welfare magnets; courts like Plyler and Graham v. Richardson locked in the benefits.
10.6M Mexican immigrants in 2022
As of 2022, Mexico was the top source of foreign-born US residents with 10.6 million immigrants, dwarfing all other countries of origin.
The Free Donut Shop: Why Welfare Changed Immigration Forever
When there was no welfare, immigration self-selected for risk-takers who wanted to build. Add a welfare state and you change who shows up. The Michelin-star bakery gets a different clientele than the shop with 'free donuts' in the window — and the incentive structure of American immigration flipped in 1965.
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