Fact Check: Yes, Chain Migration Allows ‘Unlimited Numbers’ of Foreign Relatives to Enter U.S.

During President Trump’s “State of the Union” (SOTU) address on Tuesday, the populist president said the process known as “chain migration” allows “virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives.”

Fact Check: TRUE

Currently, the legal immigration system to the U.S. prioritizes foreign nationals who have foreign relatives already living in the country. This process is commonly referred to as “chain migration” and it makes up more than 70 percent of all legal immigration to the U.S.

MUST WATCH: What you need to know about #ChainMigration pic.twitter.com/obBgkm3lxl

— FAIR (@FAIRImmigration) January 17, 2018

In the next 20 years, Breitbart News reported how chain migration is expected to import between seven to eight million new foreign-born voters, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) Director of Research Steven Camarota revealed.

The chain migration importation of eight million new foreign-born voters in the next two decades would be double the size of the annual number of U.S. births; about four million American babies are born every year.

Overall, including all legal immigration and not just chain migration, the U.S. is on track to bring in about 15 million new foreign-born voters in the next 20 years, as the country continues admitting more than one million legal immigrants every year.

In 2016, the legal and illegal immigrant population reached a record high of 44 million. By 2023, CIS estimates that the legal and illegal immigrant population of the U.S. will make up nearly 15 percent of the entire U.S. population. Chain migration has brought more than nine million legal immigrants to the U.S. since 2005.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.