There is a record 42.1million immigrants in the United States, a new data analysis reveals.

The explosion is being driven by a post-recession surge in Mexicans flooding across the border, according to a report on Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).

In the past year alone, a whopping 1.7million legal and illegal immigrants have entered the country.

Of these, 740,000 - more than 43 per cent - are Mexicans, the analysis shows. This suggests that the net migration of Mexican immigrants is no longer zero, as previously reported by experts.

Instead, it is growing rapidly.

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Record high: There is a record 42.1million immigrants in the United States (above) - up from 30.2million in 2000, according to a new report on Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)

Rise: In the past year alone, a whopping 1.7 million legal and illegal immigrants have entered the country. Of these, 740,000 - more than 43 per cent - are Mexicans, the analysis shows. Above, undocumented Mexican immigrants walk through the Sonoran Desert in Arizona after illegally crossing the border in January 2011

'The 1.7 million growth in the immigrant population (legal and illegal) from 2014 to 2015 is one of the largest single-year increases from the same quarter of the prior year since 2000,' the report states.

Of the rise in Mexicans, it adds: 'Something seems to have changed in the last 18 months... the growth in the Mexican immigrant population in the last year is large and statically significant.'

At present, immigrants reportedly make up a huge 13.3 percent of the nation's total population - which is the largest proportion in 105 years. Of these, 12.1 million are Mexican, the report states.

So far this year, 419,000 Mexican immigrants have entered the U.S.

Aside from Mexican immigrants, people from other Latin American countries are also coming to the U.S. and staying there - with a reported rise of 449,000 from 2014 to the second quarter of 2015.

Latin Americans had typically been put off from moving to the U.S. in previous years, as their relatives had found themselves forced to move back to their home nations amid the recession.

Rebound: The analysis suggests that the net migration of Mexican immigrants is no longer zero. Instead, it is growing rapidly. Above, a graph by the CISshowing the rebound in the number of Mexican immigrants

Change: The report's authors write of Mexican immigrants: 'Something seems to have changed in the last 18 months... the growth in the Mexican immigrant population in the last year is large and statically significant'

But now, post-recession, immigration has made a comeback - with President Barack Obama and his administration also pushing to loosen immigration enforcement, the Washington Times notes.

Obama's plans, announced in November, are designed to shelter millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation - and instead, provide them with work permits for the U.S.

The report, by Karen Zeigler and Steven Camarota, highlights that for the immigrant population to have increased by 1.7million, 'significantly more' than this number must have entered the U.S..

This is 'because some immigrants already here return to their homeland each year and natural mortality totals 250,000 annually,' the authors write.

In total, the country's immigrant population has grown by 4.1million from 2011 to 2015.

This is 'roughly equal to the pace of growth from 2000 to 2007', the report states.

Making a comeback: Immigration to the United States has made a comeback - with the economy recovering from the recession and President Barack Obama pushing to loosen the nation's immigration enforcement

Debate: It comes as 2016 presidential candidates continue to heatedly debate the issue of immigration. Last month, Donald Trump (left) won over Republican voters by attacking the government of Mexico for its illegal immigrants, while Sen. Ted Cruz (right) is also aggressively pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigration

Zeigler and Camarota note that Mexico has been the 'top sending country to the U.S. for both legal and illegal immigration' for the past few decades, regardless of rises and declines in immigration.

Officials have also said that more than half of all illegal immigrants are Mexicans (an estimated eight in 10 illegal immigrants in the U.S. are either from Mexico, or from other Latin American countries).

Thus, the report concludes: 'In the last two years, the growth in the immigrant population has been largely driven by immigrants from Mexico and the rest of Latin America. This suggests that illegal immigration has increased in recent years after having declined or grown little from 2009 to 2013.'

According to the Washington Examiner, Camarota, the director of research at the CIS, said the 'rapid growth in the immigrant population was foreseeable' based on the cutbacks in immigration enforcement, the U.S.'s expansive legal immigration system, and the nation's improving economy.

He added: 'But the question remains, is it in the nation's interest?'

This CIS graphic shows how the number of legal and illegal immigrants to the U.S. has recently rebounded

The new analysis comes as 2016 presidential candidates continue to heatedly debate the issue of immigration, with many members of the public calling for a crackdown on the surge of immigrants.

Last month, Donald Trump won over Republican voters by attacking the government of Mexico and outlining a plan to charge them $100,000 for every illegal immigrant who crosses the border.

The Republican presidential front-runner got round after round of applause at successive events in Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix, Arizona, at which he rounded on the Mexican government for allegedly 'pushing' undocumented immigrants to the U.S. to avoid dealing with them themselves.

Trump, whose wife is a legal immigrant, said that Mexico had been allowed to get away with the scheme because they are 'smart' and Obama and his administration are 'stupid'.

This situation can only be fixed if he leads the charge to 'take back our country', he said.

Senator Ted Cruz is also aggressively pushing for a crackdown on illegal immigration.