Mexicans decline to less than half the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population for the first time
The number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants has fallen since its peak of 6.9 million in 2007 and was lower in 2017 than in any year since 2001.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants has fallen since its peak of 6.9 million in 2007 and was lower in 2017 than in any year since 2001.
There were 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2017. The number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants declined since 2007.
Jeffrey S. Passel, senior demographer, on the research techniques used to derive the unauthorized immigrant population estimate in the U.S. and the challenges involved.
In 2016, a third of unauthorized immigrant adults were proficient in English – up from a quarter in 2007.
Unauthorized immigrants make up a quarter of all U.S. foreign-born residents. Our new interactive offers data on unauthorized immigrants by state.
There were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2016, down from 12.2 million in 2007. The total is the lowest since 2004 and is tied to a decline in the number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants.
The increase from these countries exceeded modest growth of the overall foreign-born population and came amid a decline in immigrants from Mexico.
About 629,000 foreign visitors who were expected to leave the U.S. in fiscal 2016 were still in the U.S. when the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
As the Mexican share of the total declined, the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S. in 2015 was smaller than when the Great Recession ended.
The estimated total – 11.1 million in 2014 – has steadied since the end of the recession as the number declined from Mexico but grew from other countries.
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