The majority of illegal and legal immigrants living in the United States have a high school diploma or less, newly released research by Pew Research Center reveals.

The research finds that of the 1.5 million foreign nationals that the U.S. imports every year, the majority are less educated than native-born Americans, 40 percent of which have at least college or university degrees.

Overall, about 64 percent of the nation’s foreign-born population 25-years-old or older has just a high school education or less. About 28 percent of the foreign-born population — including illegal and legal immigrants — has less than a high school education. A little more than 35 percent have a high school education.

The driver of unskilled, less educated mass immigration to the U.S., Pew researchers concede, is the policy known as chain migration, whereby newly naturalized citizens can bring an unlimited number of foreign relatives to the country regardless of their skills or educational level. Chain migration makes up about 70 percent of the legal immigration system.

“The U.S. approach differs from other immigration systems,” Pew researchers note. “Most lawful permanent residents enter as family members and largely have no educational requirements for entry into the U.S. Also, about a quarter, or 10.7 million, of the United States’ immigrant population is unauthorized, and these immigrants are generally less educated than those in the country legally.”

Five Years of Chain Migration Adds More People to U.S. than One Year of American Births https://t.co/gjW6j4tX9p — John Binder 👽 (@JxhnBinder) December 19, 2017

Since 2005, 9.3 million foreign nationals have been able to resettle in the U.S. for no other reason than they had extended family members already living in the country. This huge inflow outpaces two years of American births, which amount to roughly four million babies every year.

Meanwhile, countries with merit-based legal immigration systems have foreign-born populations with high levels of educational attainment.

For example, Australia, which has a merit-based legal immigration process, has a foreign-born population where 63 percent of the immigrants have a college degree or more. Canada, which also has a merit-based legal immigration system, has a foreign-born population where 65 percent have at least a college education.

Being less educated than native-born Americans, illegal and legal immigrant households also use more federal welfare and public services than Americans, as Breitbart News has reported.

A study conducted by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) found that the majority of foreign nationals entering the country every year use about 57 percent more food stamps than the average native-born American household.

Overall, immigrant households consume 33 percent more cash welfare than American citizen households and 44 percent more in Medicaid dollars. This straining of public services by a booming 44.5 million foreign-born population translates to the average immigrant household costing American taxpayers $6,234 in federal welfare.

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