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.

As of 2023, 27.3 percent of California's population were born in a country other than the United States. New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Nevada rounded out the top five states with the largest population of foreign born residents in that year. For the country as a whole, 14.3 percent of residents were foreign born.

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.

We apply standard demographic principles of inflows and outflows to estimate the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States, using the best available data, including some that have only recently become available. Our analysis covers the years 1990 to 2016. We develop an estimate of the number of undocumented immigrants based on parameter values that tend to underestimate undocumented immigrant inflows and overstate outflows; we also show the probability distribution for the number of undocumented immigrants based on simulating our model over parameter value ranges. Our conservative estimate is 16.7 million for 2016, nearly fifty percent higher than the most prominent current estimate of 11.3 million, which is based on survey data and thus different sources and methods. The mean estimate based on our simulation analysis is 22.1 million, essentially double the current widely accepted estimate. Our model predicts a similar trajectory of growth in the number of undocumented immigrants over the years of our analysis, but at a higher level. While our analysis delivers different results, we note that it is based on many assumptions. The most critical of these concern border apprehension rates and voluntary emigration rates of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. These rates are uncertain, especially in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, which is when—both based on our modeling and the very different survey data approach—the number of undocumented immigrants increases most significantly. Our results, while based on a number of assumptions and uncertainties, could help frame debates about policies whose consequences depend on the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States.

The estimated population of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. stands at around ** million people. Although the number has stabilized, the United States has seen a spike in migrant encounters in the last few years, with over * million cases registered by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2023. This is a slight decrease from the previous year, when there were over *** 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.

Unauthorized population estimates for 1990, 2000, and 2014.

This statistic shows the percentage of the illegal immigrant population in the United States that is eligible for either the DAPA or DACA programs in 2015. Fifty percent of California's illegal immigrant population was estimated to be eligible for DAPA or DACA in 2015.

Debates about migration are often in the news. People quote numbers about how many people are entering and leaving different countries. Governments need to plan and manage public resources based on how their own populations are changing.

Informed discussions and effective policymaking rely on good migration data. But how much do we really know about migration, and where do estimates come from?

In this article, I look at how countries and international agencies define different forms of migration, how they estimate the number of people moving in and out of countries, and how accurate these estimates are.

Migrants without legal status make up a small portion of the overall immigrant population. Most high-income countries and some middle-income ones have a solid understanding of how many immigrants live there. Tracking the exact flows of people moving in and out is trickier, but governments can reliably monitor long-term trends to understand the bigger picture.

Who is considered an international migrant? In the United Nations statistics, an international migrant is defined as “a person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for at least a year, so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence”.1

For example, an Argentinian person who spends nine months studying in the United States wouldn’t count as a long-term immigrant in the US. But an Argentinian person who moves to the US for two years would. Even if someone gains citizenship in their new country, they are still considered an immigrant in migration statistics.

The same applies in reverse for emigrants: someone leaving their home country for more than a year is considered a long-term emigrant for the country they’ve left. This does not change if they acquire citizenship in another country. Some national governments may have definitions that differ from the UN recommendations.

What about illegal migration? “Illegal migration” refers to the movement of people outside the legal rules for entering or leaving a country. There isn’t a single agreed-upon definition, but it generally involves people who breach immigration laws. Some refer to this as irregular or unauthorized migration.

There are three types of migrants who don’t have a legal immigration status. First, those who cross borders without the right legal permissions. Second, those who enter a country legally but stay after their visa or permission expires. Third, some migrants have legal permission to stay but work in violation of employment restrictions — for example, students who work more hours than their visa allows.

Tracking illegal migration is difficult. In regions with free movement, like the European Union, it’s particularly challenging. For example, someone could move from Germany to France, live there without registering, and go uncounted in official migration records.2 The rise of remote work has made it easier for people to live in different countries without registering as employees or taxpayers.

Users can download data and reports regarding the experience of Latinos in the United States. Users can also interact with maps to view population trends over time. Background The Pew Hispanic Center website contains reports and datasets regarding the experience of Latinos in the United States. Topics include, but are not limited to: homeownership, elections, criminal justice system, and education. User Functionality Users can view and download reports. Users can also interact with maps to obtain demographic information and view population trends from 1980 to 2010. Datasets are also available to download directly into SPSS stat istical software. Surveys administered by the Pew Hispanic Center include: Hispanic Health Care Survey, National Survey of Latinos, Hispanic Religion Survey, Survey of Mexicans Living in the U.S. on Absentee Voting in Mexican Elections, Survey o f Mexican Migrants, and the Survey of Latinos on the News Media. Demographic information is available by race/ethnicity. Data Notes Report information is available on a national and county level and is indicated with the report or dataset. Demographic trends in population growth and dispersion are available for 1980 through 2010. Each report and dataset indicate years in which the data were collected and the geographic unit.

This study examines the political participation of undocumented Mexican immigrants residing in the United States in Mexican external voting. As international mobility of people has increased globally, scholarly attention has grown concerning how overseas citizens engage in electoral processes in their countries of origin. However, previous studies based on traditional survey methods may have yielded biased results due to the underrepresentation of undocumented immigrants, who are less likely to enroll in survey company panels due to concerns about the potential compromise of their identities. To include this hard-to-reach population and conduct representative sampling, our research employs a method called respondent-driven sampling (RDS), which permits the surveying of a population devoid of a sampling frame. Our analysis of the Mexican case demonstrates that a lack of electoral information, lower levels of education, and heightened distrust of the Mexican government are associated with diminished electoral participation.

The Latino Second Generation Study is a national survey of the political experiences and attitudes of 1,050 U.S. born second generation Latinos of foreign-born parents. The goal of the project is to advance scholarly understanding of political socialization and of the long-term effects of the U.S. immigration system on citizen, civic and political participation in the U.S. Additional variables include behavior and attitudes, family immigration history, and demographic background. The survey was fielded online in English and Spanish by the research firm GfK in the summer of 2013. Demographic variables include age, income, size of household, education level, marital status, race/ethnicity, gender, and parent's country of birth and citizenship.

Graph and download economic data for Net migration for the United States (SMPOPNETMUSA) from 1962 to 2017 about migration, Net, 5-year, population, and USA.

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

Statements about building walls, deportation and denying services to undocumented immigrants made during President Trump’s presidential campaign and presidency may induce fear in Latino populations and create barriers to their health care access. To assess how these statements relate to undocumented Latino immigrants’ (UDLI) and Latino legal residents/citizens’ (LLRC) perceptions of safety and their presentations for emergency care, we conducted surveys of adult patients at three county emergency departments (EDs) in California from June 2017 to December 2018. Of 1,684 patients approached, 1,337 (79.4%) agreed to participate: 34.3% UDLI, 36.9% LLRC, and 29.8% non-Latino legal residents/citizens (NLRC). The vast majority of UDLI (95%), LLRC (94%) and NLRC (85%) had heard statements about immigrants. Most UDLI (89%), LLRC (88%) and NLRC (87%) either thought that these measures were being enacted now or will be enacted in the future. Most UDLI and half of LLRC reported that these statements made them feel unsafe living in the US, 75% (95% CI 70–80%) and 51% (95% CI 47–56%), respectively. More UDLI reported that these statements made them afraid to come to the ED (24%, 95% CI 20–28%) vs LLRC (4.4%, 95% CI 3–7%) and NLRC (3.5%, 95% CI 2–6%); 55% of UDLI with this fear stated it caused them to delay coming to the ED (median delay 2–3 days). The vast majority of patients in our California EDs have heard statements during the 2016 presidential campaign or from President Trump about measures against undocumented immigrants, which have induced worry and safety concerns in both UDLI and LLRC patients. Exposure to these statements was also associated with fear of accessing emergency care in some UDLIs. Given California’s sanctuary state status, these safety concerns and ED access fears may be greater in a nationwide population of Latinos.

With an estimated ******* eligible people, Mexico was the number one country of origin for people immediately eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in the United States in 2022. El Salvador trailed behind, but was the country with the second highest population immediately eligible for DACA, with ****** people.

Abstract (en): Transatlantic Trends: Immigration, 2009 examined attitudes and policy preferences related to immigration in Europe, Canada, and the United States. The survey concentrated on issues such as: general perceptions of immigration and immigrants, perceptions of legal and illegal immigrants, the impact of immigration on society, admittance of immigrants, immigration policies, immigration and integration, decision-making level, socio-political rights, welfare, government evaluation and number of immigrants, interaction with immigrants, and economic crisis. In addition, a list experiment was implemented in this survey. Several questions were also asked pertaining to voting and politics including vote intention, political party attachment, whether candidate parties' agendas on immigration will influence their vote, and left-right political self-placement. Demographic and other background information includes age, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, origin of birth (personal and parental), religious affiliation, age when stopped full-time education and stage at which full-time education was completed, occupation, type of locality, region of residence, and language of interview. Please refer to the "Technical Note" in the ICPSR codebook for further information about weighting. ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: Created online analysis version with question text.; Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.. Response Rates: The total response rate for all countries surveyed is 13 percent. Please refer to the "Technical Note" in the ICPSR codebook for additional information about response rate. The adult population aged 18 years and over, with access to a landline telephone in eight countries: Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States. Smallest Geographic Unit: country (1) Stratified multi-stage random sampling (3 steps selection) was implemented. Sampling points were selected according to region and urbanization, and then random routes were conducted within these sampling points. (2) Random-digit dialing was implemented in all countries. Up to eight callbacks were used for each telephone number. The closest birthday rule was used to randomly select respondents within a household. computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI)The original data collection was carried out by TNS Opinion and Social -- Brussels, on request of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.The documentation and/or setup files may contain references to Poland, but Poland was not a participant in this Transatlantic Trends: Immigration survey. This collection contains no data for Poland.A split ballot was used for questions Q6, Q8, Q15, Q19, and Q25 in this survey. The variables Q6_SPLIT, Q8_SPLIT, Q15_SPLIT, Q19_SPLIT, and Q25_SPLIT define the separate groups for each of these questions. Additional information on the Transatlantic Trends Survey is provided on the Transatlantic Trends Web site.

Between 2023 and 2024, the majority of Muslim immigrants living in the United States were born in another country, with 59 percent of U.S. Muslims born outside the United States. In contrast, most Christian immigrants were U.S. born, with both parents also born in the U.S. during the provided time period.

The largest number of immigrants in Germany were from Ukraine, as of 2024. 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, around 1.69 million people immigrated to Germany. Numbers fluctuated during the time period covered in the graph at hand, peaking in 2015 during the high point of Europe’s refugee crisis. Significantly lower figures in 2020 may be attributed to the first year of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and subsequent restrictions implemented by the German government on entering the country, in order to control the spread of the disease. Immigration to Germany “Immigrant” is a term used from the point of view of the receiving country, or the country being migrated to by a person. While reasons for and circumstances leading to an immigrant entering a foreign country may vary, they often include love, include seeking residence, employment, family reunions, or applying for asylum. Various countries are represented among foreigners living in Germany, though currently the leading three by numbers are Turkey, Ukraine, and Syria. Around 5.36 million immigrants living in Germany do not need a residence permit due to having EU citizenship, and therefore being allowed freedom of movement based on EU law. Another 2.64 million immigrants were granted an unlimited permit to stay in Germany. The near future Germany remains a popular choice for immigrants, even in currently challenging economic and political times. Welfare benefits, healthcare, and various support initiatives for those moving to or arriving in the country are on the list of selling points, though in practice, difficulties may be encountered depending on individual situations and laws in different German federal states. While the unemployment rate among foreigners living in Germany had gone up in 2020, it dropped again in the following years, but increased once more in 2023 and 2024 to over 16 percent. The country is Europe’s largest economy, housing many global players in various industries, which continues to attract jobseekers, despite these very industries facing struggles of their own brought on both by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical events in Europe.