What we know about unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.
The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States reached 10.5 million in 2021. That was a modest increase over 2019 but nearly identical to 2017.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States reached 10.5 million in 2021. That was a modest increase over 2019 but nearly identical to 2017.
91% of Democrats favor granting legal status to immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children; 54% of Republicans say the same.
About three-quarters of U.S. adults say undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs U.S. citizens do not want.
A decline in U.S. refugee admissions comes at a time when the number of refugees worldwide has reached the highest levels since World War II.
In this Q&A and video, learn about the methods and data sources the Center used to estimate the number of unauthorized immigrants in Europe.
There were 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2017. The number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants declined since 2007.
The size of Europe’s unauthorized immigrant population in 2017 was less than half the number in the United States.
While Mexico is the United States’ largest source of immigrants, the number of Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. illegally has declined since 2007.
The number of people living in sub-Saharan Africa who were forced to leave their homes due to conflict reached a new high of 18.4 million in 2017, up sharply from 14.1 million in 2016 – the largest regional increase of forcibly displaced people in the world.
Recently arrived immigrants have markedly different education, income and other characteristics from those who have been in the U.S. for longer.
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