… is that we, the People, are being manipulated.

Of course, we should be clear.  The contribution of illegal immigration is not the entire 3.8M, which also includes whatever increase there would have been, if any.  (Presumably, immigration could prove to had made up for what otherwise would have been a decrease.)  We also should turn a good portion of our attention to a realistic “So, now what?” analysis.

That said, a country-changing trend like this really should be subject of extensive public debate and consent, which is pretty much the opposite of what our political elites are encouraging.