Illegal Immigration 2017: Every 32 Seconds A New Immigrant Joins US Population

Every 32 seconds a new immigrant joins the U.S. population. Some are undocumented and some arrive with the proper visas, but the data underscores the nation's shifting demographics as President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month with a mission to stop illegal immigration.

In all, roughly 14 percent of the nation were foreign born from 2011 to 2015, according to recent Census Bureau population projections for 2017. At least 80 percent of the nation identified as white, 15 percent said they were Hispanic or Latino, nearly 12 percent were black and Asians made up about 5 percent of the country. Roughly 323.1 million people call the United States home.

The nation is becoming less white because of both immigration and pregnancy trends. The birth rate, fueled in part by Hispanic and Asian immigrants, grows by one person every 17 seconds, The Connecticut Post reported Thursday. That marks the lowest population growth since the Depression era. The growth rate was at it highest point in 1949-1950, the so-called baby boom years after World War II, when population growth exceeded 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of immigrants moving to the U.S. is slowing down by about 10 percent, the Census Bureau found. Roughly 999,000 immigrants joined the population last year, down 4 percent from 2015.

Overall, however, there are more immigrants in the U.S. today than there were decades ago. About 41 million immigrants lived in the U.S. in 2013, more than four times as many compared to 1960, the Pew Research Center found.

Most of the nation's fastest growing states are located in the West: Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Arizona. Other states with swelling populations include Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. Some of that can be attributed to relocation. About 593,000 people moved from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West in 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump has promised to immediately deport up to 3 million undocumented immigrants after he is sworn in on Jan. 20.