The estimated population of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. stands at around 11 million people. Although the number has stabilized, the United States has seen a spike in migrant encounters in the last few years, with over two million cases registered by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2023. This is a slight decrease from the previous year, when there were over 2.2 million cases registered. Due to its proximity and shared border, Mexico remains the leading country of origin for most undocumented immigrants in the U.S., with California and Texas being home to the majority.

Immigration and political division

Despite the majority of the population having immigrant roots, the topic of immigration in the U.S. remains one of the country’s longest-standing political debates. Support among Republicans for restrictive immigration has grown alongside Democratic support for open immigration. This growing divide has deepened the polarization between the two major political parties, stifling constructive dialogue and impeding meaningful reform efforts and as a result, has led to dissatisfaction from all sides. In addition to general immigration policy, feelings toward illegal immigration in the U.S. also vary widely. For some, it's seen as a significant threat to national security, cultural identity, and economic stability. This perspective often aligns with support for stringent measures like Trump's proposed border wall and increased enforcement efforts. On the other hand, there are those who are more sympathetic toward undocumented immigrants, as demonstrated by support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In January 2022, it was estimated that about 1.85 million male illegal immigrants living in the United States were aged between 35 and 44 years old. In that same year, it was estimated that 1.52 million female illegal immigrants living in the U.S. were between 35 and 44 years old.

In 2022, about 2.58 million illegal aliens were apprehended in the United States. This was a significant increase from the previous year, when there were around 1.87 million illegal aliens apprehended nationwide. Apprehensions refer to Border Patrol apprehensions and ICE administrative arrests.

In 2022, an estimated 10.99 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States. This is an increase from about 3.5 million unauthorized immigrants who lived in the United States in 1990.

In 2019, California had the highest population of unauthorized immigrants, at around 2.74 million. The overall figure for the United States was estimated to be around 11.05 million unauthorized immigrants.

As of January 2022, it was estimated that about 4.81 million illegal immigrants from Mexico were living in the United States. It was also estimated that 750,000 illegal immigrants from Guatemala were living in the United States.

Acknowledgement

The following table is imported from the 2019 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics under the Department of Homeland Security:

The 2019 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics is a compendium of tables that provide data on foreign nationals who are granted lawful permanent residence (i.e., immigrants who receive a “green card”), admitted as temporary nonimmigrants, granted asylum or refugee status, or are naturalized. The Yearbook also presents data on immigration enforcement actions, including apprehensions and arrests, removals, and returns.

Table 33. Aliens Apprehended: Fiscal Years 1925 to 2019 (https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2019/table33)

Inspiration

The data was collected to observe trends in history reflecting the number of immigrants apprehended.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Level - Foreign Born (LNU02073395) from Jan 2007 to Feb 2025 about foreign, household survey, employment, and USA.

According to the source, the number of immigrants that arrived in Spain illegally in 2018 amounted to approximately 64,300, representing the peak of the period under consideration. In 2024, over 63,970 irregular immigrants arrived at the Mediterranean country.

Significantly more men were apprehended by the United States Border Patrol than women in the the fiscal year of 2020. Nationwide, 329,347 men were apprehended by Border Patrol in that year, compared to 75,678 women who were apprehended.

Attitudes towards the topics of internal security, asylum, immigration and counter-terrorism. 1. Internal security: subjective feeling of security or concern about criminal attacks; assessment of relevant sources of fear of crime (e.g. through portrayals of violence on television, through the daily news about crime and criminality, own experiences of victimisation, etc.); concern about concrete crimes (attacks by Islamist terrorists, organised criminal gangs from abroad, young people´s propensity to violence, theft and assaults on the open street, break-ins and break-ins of cars, violence in the family, police assaults); assessment of policy efforts to ensure security; assessment of appropriate security measures (more visible presence of police and law enforcement officers, faster deportation of foreign criminals, law enforcement officers in public transport, video surveillance of public places and in public transport vehicles, tougher penalties, more intensive police checks on motorways, stronger internet surveillance, more social prevention projects for young people); assessment of stronger cooperation between different German and international security bodies (police authorities of the Federation and the federal states, police and intelligence services of the EU states, resp. police and intelligence services of Germany and the USA); attitude towards video surveillance in public places (feeling of security or rather of unease or both at the same time); attitude towards data retention. 2. Attitudes towards asylum and immigration: Dealing with refugees with rejected asylum applications (deportation or toleration under certain conditions); concern about the increase in the number of refugees; concrete concerns regarding the topic of asylum and refugees in Germany (alienation, increasing criminality, rise in right-wing radicalism, loss of German identity, increase in illegal immigrants in the country, excessive demands on social security systems); necessity of selected measures to improve and tighten asylum law (immediate deportation in the case of rejected asylum applications, work permits for asylum seekers, toleration despite rejection of the asylum application, stricter examination of the grounds for asylum); assessment of selected criteria for immigration to Germany (occupation in demand, family members in Germany, young or old, political persecution in home country, university degree, good knowledge of German, no criminal offences in home country, desire for education); opinion on the immigration of highly qualified skilled workers from abroad; assessment of the domestic significance of German immigration policy; assessment of the importance of a welcoming culture for immigrants; immigrants feel welcome vs. not welcome in Germany. 3. Counter-terrorism: assessment of the danger of terrorist attacks in Germany; assessment of the federal government´s efforts with regard to protection against a terrorist attack; opinions on punishment of financial supporters and of sympathisers of terrorist organisations. Demography: sex; age; highest level of education; employment; occupational status; marital status (household structure); religious denomination; net household income. Additionally coded were: Respondent ID; weighting factor; city size; federal state. Einstellungen zu den Themen Innere Sicherheit, Asyl, Einwanderung und Terrorbekämpfung. 1. Innere Sicherheit: Subjektives Sicherheitsgefühl bzw. Sorge vor kriminellen Übergriffen; Einschätzung von maßgeblichen Quellen für Kriminalitätsfurcht (z. B. durch Gewaltdarstellungen im Fernsehen, durch die täglichen Nachrichten über Verbrechen und Kriminalität, eigene Viktimisierungserfahrungen, etc.); Sorge vor konkreten Verbrechen (Anschläge islamistischer Terroristen, organisierte kriminelle Banden aus dem Ausland, Gewaltbereitschaft Jugendlicher, Diebstahl und Überfälle auf offener Straße, Einbrüche und Aufbrechen von Autos, Gewalt in der Familie, Polizeiübergriffe); Beurteilung der Bemühungen der Politik, Sicherheit zu gewährleisten; Beurteilung von geeigneten Sicherheitsmaßnahmen (mehr sichtbare Präsenz von Polizei und Ordnungskräften, schnellere Abschiebung von ausländischen Straftätern, Ordnungskräfte im öffentlichen Nahverkehr, Videoüberwachung öffentlicher Plätze und in Nahverkehrsmitteln, härtere Strafen, intensivere Polizeikontrollen auf Autobahnen, stärkere Internetüberwachung, mehr soziale Präventionsprojekte für Jugendliche); Beurteilung der stärkeren Zusammenarbeit von verschiedenen deutschen und internationalen Sicherheitsorganen (Polizeibehörden von Bund und Ländern, Polizei und Nachrichtendienste der EU-Staaten bzw. Polizei und Nachrichtendienste von Deutschland und den USA); Einstellung zur Videoüberwachung auf öffentlichen Plätzen (Gefühl von Sicherheit oder eher von Unbehagen oder beides gleichzeitig); Einstellung zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung. 2. Einstellungen zu Asyl und Einwanderung: Umgang mit Flüchtlingen mit abgelehntem Asylantrag (Abschiebung oder Duldung unter bestimmten Bedingungen); Sorge um Anstieg der Flüchtlingszahlen; konkrete Sorgen in Bezug das Thema Asyl und Flüchtlinge in Deutschland (Überfremdung, steigende Kriminalität, Anstieg des Rechtsradikalismus, Verlust der deutschen Identität, Zuwachs an Illegalen im Land, Überforderung der sozialen Sicherungssysteme); Notwendigkeit ausgewählter Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung und Verschärfung des Asylrechts (sofortige Abschiebung bei abgelehnten Asylanträgen, Arbeitserlaubnis für Asylbewerber, Duldung trotz Ablehnung des Asylantrags, strengere Prüfung der Asylgründe); Beurteilung ausgewählter Kriterien für die Einwanderung nach Deutschland (nachgefragter Beruf, Familienangehörige in Deutschland, jung oder alt, politische Verfolgung im Heimatland, Universitätsabschluss, gute Deutschkenntnisse, keine Straftaten im Heimatland, Ausbildungswunsch); Meinung zur Zuwanderung hochqualifizierter Fachkräfte aus dem Ausland; Beurteilung der innenpolitischen Bedeutsamkeit der deutschen Einwanderungspolitik; Beurteilung der Wichtigkeit einer Willkommenskultur für Einwanderer; Einwanderer fühlen sich in Deutschland willkommen vs. nicht willkommen. 3. Terrorbekämpfung: Einschätzung der Gefahr terroristischer Anschläge in Deutschland; Einschätzung der Bemühungen der Bundesregierung im Hinblick auf den Schutz vor einem terroristischen Anschlag; Meinungen zu Bestrafung von finanziellen Unterstützern und von Sympathiewerbern von Terrororganisationen. Demographie: Geschlecht; Alter; höchster Bildungsabschluss; Erwerbstätigkeit; berufliche Stellung; Familienstand (Haushaltsstruktur); Konfession; Haushaltsnettoeinkommen. Zusätzlich verkodet wurden: Befragten-ID; Gewichtungsfaktor; Ortsgröße; Bundesland.

This statistic shows the top ten metropolitan areas in the United States with highest unauthorized immigrant populations in 2014. With over one million unauthorized people, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA had the highest illegal immigrant population in the United States in 2014.

The EU and its neighbouring countries. Access to and evaluation of services of general interest. Occupation and mobility. Employment and social policy. Attitude towards lifelong education. Energy technologies. Family planning in Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Turkey.

Topics: Political knowledge: knowledge of the number of member states of the European Union, and enumeration of five candidate countries that will join the EU in a near future; contact with people from selected countries; knowledge test on the neighbouring countries of the EU; attitude towards the enlargement of the EU (scale: slow enlargement, creation of specific types of relationships to neighbouring countries parallel to the current enlargement process, no specific relationships to other countries after the completion of the present enlargement process; values that best represent the European Union; knowledge of the European Neighbourhood Policy; importance of special relationships with the 16 neighbouring countries that do not have accession prospect regarding: immigration, environment, energy, research and innovation, democracy, crime, economic development, education and training, terrorism; attitude towards the cooperation of the EU with neighbouring countries (scale: common values, reduction of conflicts in Europe, promotion of democracy in these countries, reduction of illegal immigration into the EU, reduction of relationships with countries with no willingness to progress, promoting reforms in these countries could endanger peace and stability in the EU, will of the neighbouring countries to cooperate to reform themselves); attitude towards support of these countries by the EU (scale: ensuring prosperity of the EU, very expensive, opportunities for expansion for EU companies, easier access to EU markets); interest in developments in countries neighbouring the EU; assessment of the EU´s relations with its neighbouring countries.

Only in the EU 25 was asked: services of general interest: difficulties accessing selected services: mobile telephone networks, fixed telephone networks, dial-up or broadband internet, electricity supply networks, gas supply networks, water supply networks, postal services, local transport networks, rail network, banking system through a current account; actually used services; kind of difficulties accessing postal services and the banking system; negative effect from the difficulties accessing postal services and the banking system on daily life; affordability and importance in daily life of: mobile telephone services, fixed telephone services, internet, electricity supply services, gas supply services, water supply services, postal services, local transport services, rail services, and current bank account; assessment of the comparability of offers from different mobile, fixed telephone, or internet services providers, banks, or financial institutions; attempted or intended change of service providers in the above fields; assessment of the terms and conditions of the contract with the provider; complaints made to a service provider or a complaint handling body, assessment of the management of the complaint through the service provider; assessment of consumer protection in the areas mentioned above; knowledge of: European Social Fund (ESF), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Erasmus Programme, the European Year of Mobility 2006, and the EU´s Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs; knowledge test on the activities of the European Social Fund; assessment of the share of the EU budget used for the European Social Fund; employment situation: number of changes of employer; duration of current or last employment; most important assets for a successful job search; short-term and medium-term personal job security; participation in training courses in the last year; funding of the training; training as a necessity; personal reasons not to participate in training courses; assessment of the own chances to find a new job (scale); kind of job search after a presumed job loss (application locally or in another place, for a similar or another kind of job, or self-employment); knowledge test regarding the percentage of unemployment benefits compared to the current income.

In addition to the EU 25 also in Croatia, Romania, Turkey, and Bulgaria was asked: attitude towards flexibility in the field of employment (scale: no longer life-time jobs with the same employer, more flexible work contracts encourage job creation, ability to change jobs easily as an advantage to help people find jobs, too early retirement, regular training improves job opportunities); assessment of the effectiveness of selected measures for getting more people into work (more childcare facilities and care for elderly and other dependent people, discouraging early retirement, increasing differences in income between working and non-working people, promoting geographical mobility, supporting people who want to start their own business,...

The largest number of immigrants in Germany were from Ukraine, as of 2023. The top three origin countries were rounded up by Romania and Turkey. Immigrants are defined as having left a country, which may be their home country, to permanently reside in another. Upon arriving, immigrants do not hold the citizenship of the country they move to. Immigration in the EU All three aforementioned countries are members of the European Union, which means their citizens have freedom of movement between EU member states. In practice, this means that citizens of any EU member country may relocate between them to live and work there. Unrestricted by visas or residence permits, the search for university courses, jobs, retirement options, and places to live seems to be defined by an enormous amount of choice. However, even in this freedom of movement scheme, immigration may be hampered by bureaucratic hurdles or financial challenges. Prosperity with a question mark While Germany continues to be an attractive destination for foreigners both in and outside the European Union, as well as asylum applicants, it remains to be seen how current events might influence these patterns, whether the number of immigrants arriving from certain countries will shift. Europe’s largest economy is suffering. Climbing inflation levels in the last few months, as well as remaining difficulties from the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are affecting global economic development. Ultimately, future immigrants may face the fact of moving from one struggling economy to another.

In 2024, the net migration rate in France reached 152,000. In recent years Europe and France have seen more people arrive than depart. The net migration rate is the difference between the number of immigrants (people coming into an area) and the number of emigrants (people leaving an area) throughout the year. France's highest net migration rate was reached in 2018 when it amounted to 201,000. Armed conflicts and economic migration are some of the reasons for immigration in Europe. The refugee crisis Studies have shown that there were 331,000 immigrant arrivals in France in 2022, which has risen since 2014. The migrant crisis, which began in 2015 in Europe, had an impact on the migration entry flows not only in France but in all European countries. The number of illegal border crossings to the EU over the Eastern Mediterranean route reached a record number of 885,386 crossings in 2015. Immigration in France Since the middle of the 19th century, France has attracted immigrants, first from European countries (like Poland, Spain, and Italy), and then from the former French colonies. In 2023, there were approximately 8.9 million people foreign-born in France. Most of them were living in the Ile-de-France region, which contains Paris, and in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in the Southeastern part of the country. In 2022, the majority of immigrants arriving in France were from Africa and Europe.

President Biden Job Approval - Immigration | RealClearPolling

From January to December 2024, around 66,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of migrants setting foot in the country peaked in 2016 at 181,000 individuals, whereas in 2019 only 11,400 people were rescued from the sea. In fact, stricter immigration policies were enacted between 2018 and 2019 by the right-wing and populist government supported by the League and the Five-Star Movement. Among the most frequent countries of origin declared upon arrivals in 2024, Bangladesh and Syria ranked in the first places. About 13,800 were Bangladeshi citizens, while around 12,500 immigrants came from Syria. Asylum seekers and minors among the migrants In 2023, the largest number of asylum applicants in Italy were from Bangladesh. In fact, 23,450 requests were recorded as of December 2023, while 18,300 applicants were from Egypt, the second most common nationality among asylum seekers. In recent years, many unaccompanied minors reached the Italian coasts. In 2024, 8,043 children migrated without their parents into the country. Contrasting opinions and distorted perceptions  According to the data published by Ipsos, a part of Italians tend to overestimate the size of the immigrated population. The results of this survey uncovered the presence of distorted perceptions in 2018: people thought that about 28 percent of the Italian population was not born in Italy, whereas the actual percentage was around ten. Furthermore, the public opinion on migration was controversial. In the same year, roughly half of the population perceived migrants as a risk for the Italian economy. On the other hand, 18 percent of Italians believed that migration could be a resource for the country.

For the year ending June 2024, approximately 1.2 million people migrated to the United Kingdom, while 479,000 people migrated from the UK, resulting in a net migration figure of 728,000. There have consistently been more people migrating to the United Kingdom than leaving it since 1993 when the net migration figure was negative 1,000. Although migration from the European Union has declined since the Brexit vote of 2016, migration from non-EU countries accelerated rapidly from 2021 onwards. In the year to June 2023, 968,000 people from non-EU countries migrated to the UK, compared with 129,000 from EU member states. Immigration and the next UK election Throughout 2023, immigration, along with the economy and healthcare, was consistently seen by UK voters as one of the top issues facing the country. Despite a pledge to deter irregular migration via small boats, and controversial plans to send asylum applicants to Rwanda while their claims are being processed, the current government is losing the trust of the public on this issue. As of February 2024, 20 percent of Britons thought the Labour Party would be the best party to handle immigration, compared with 16 percent who thought the Conservatives would handle it better. With the next UK election expected at some point in 2024, the Conservatives are battling to improve their public image on this and many other issues. Historical context of migration The first humans who arrived in the British Isles, were followed by acts of conquest and settlement from Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and Normans. In the early modern period, there were also significant waves of migration from people fleeing religious or political persecution, such as the French Huguenots. More recently, large numbers of people also left Britain. Between 1820 and 1957, for example, around 4.5 million people migrated from Britain to America. After World War Two, immigration from Britain's colonies and former colonies was encouraged to meet labor demands. A key group that migrated from the Caribbean between the late 1940s and early 1970s became known as the Windrush generation, named after one of the ships that brought the arrivals to Britain.