Pew Research Center: U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population Reached a Record 14 Million in 2023

Authored by Jeffrey S. Passel and Jens Manuel Krogstad, a Pew Research Center report found that the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2023 — 14 million — after two consecutive years of record growth. The largest increases were from South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

The report has tones of facts.

Mexico accounted for 30% of the nation’s unauthorized immigrants (4.3 million) living in the United States in 2023.  According to Pew, “Mexicans represented a majority of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. through 2016smallest share on record.”

The next countries with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations in the United States in 2023 were:

• Guatemala (850,000)
• El Salvador (850,000)
• Honduras (775,000)
• India (680,000)

   

  The six states with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations in 2023 were:

  • California (2.3 million)
  • Texas (2.1 million)
  • Florida (1.6 million)
  • New York (825,000)
  • New Jersey (600,000)
  • Illinois (550,000)

The share of unauthorized immigrants in the workforce varied across states in 2023. Nevada (9%), Florida (9%), New Jersey (9%), Texas (9%), California (8%), Maryland (7%) and Massachusetts (7%) had the highest shares; 1% or less of workers in Maine, Vermont, West Virginia and Montana were unauthorized immigrants.

KJ