A study by the Pew Research Center presented data on the recent increase in the population of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, which reached 11 million in 2022, reversing a downward trend observed from 2007 to 2019. That growth was the first sustained increase since 2007, but the number of unauthorized immigrants in 2022 was still below the peak of 12.2 million recorded in 2007.

According to the publication, these recent estimates do not take into account the events that have occurred since mid-2022. The population of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. is likely to have increased over the past two years, according to several alternative data sources. For example, encounters with migrants at U.S. borders reached record numbers during 2022 and 2023, and the number of asylum seekers waiting for a decision increased by about 1 million by the end of2023.

The increase was driven in part by federal programs that released new immigrants into the country and by the increase in asylum seekers. However, the complexity of migration makes it difficult to make an accurate estimate, as migrants leave the country, die or obtain legal status.

Also noteworthy is the drop in the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, which, although still the largest group, decreased to 4 million in 2022. On the other hand, immigrants from other regions, such as the Caribbean, South America, Asia, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, increased.

According to the study's data, after Mexico, the countries with the largest populations of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2022 were:

El Salvador (750,000)

India (725,000)

Guatemala (675,000)

Honduras (525,000)

“In 2022, Venezuela was the country of birth for 270,000 U.S. unauthorized immigrants. This population had seen particularly fast growth, from 55,000 in 2007 to 130,000 in 2017. It is poised to grow significantly in the future as new methods of entry to the U.S. are now available to Venezuelans. Other countries with large numbers of unauthorized immigrants have also seen increases in recent years. Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, India, and countries making up the former Soviet Union all experienced growth from 2019 to 2022”.

The six states with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations in 2022 were:

California (1.8 million)

Texas (1.6 million)

Florida (1.2 million)

New York City (650,000)

New Jersey (475,000)

Illinois (400,000)

Additionally, six states (Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Texas) experienced a growth in the population of unauthorized immigrants between 2019 and 2022, while California was the only state to see a decrease.

In relation to the country's workforce, in 2022, 8.3 million workers in the US were unauthorized immigrants, representing 4.8% of the total.

The composition of households with unauthorized immigrants is also addressed, showing that most live in blended families, where legal immigrants and U.S.-born citizens coexist.

The publication concludes by discussing the geographic and occupational distribution of unauthorized immigrants, which varied between states in 2022, with “Nevada (9%), Texas (8%), Florida (8%), New Jersey (7%), California (7%) and Maryland (7%) had the highest shares, while fewer than 1% of workers in Maine, Montana, Vermont and West Virginia were unauthorized immigrants”.