Aug. 21 (UPI) — Pew Research Center released on Thursday found that “unauthorized immigrants” in the United States hit a record high in 2023 of 14 million entering the country.
That 14 million included about 6 million who were protected from deportation via some other status, including victims of violent crime, Pew said in its report. These protections can be, and in some cases have been, removed by the federal government, sometimes with little notification.
The report only covers up to 2023, which is the latest year data were available.
The label “unauthorized immigrants” includes an array of statuses, including those who entered the United States illegally. The term groups together immigrants living in the country with impermanent, precarious statuses, Pew said.
The U.S. unauthorized immigrant population includes any immigrants who are not in these groups: Lawful permanent residents (green card holders), refugees formally admitted to the United States, people granted asylum, former unauthorized immigrants granted legal residence under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, naturalized U.S. citizens who entered under the prior four categoires as well as temporary legal residents under specific visa categories, such as those for foreign students, guest workers and intracompany transfers.
The report said that the rise in immigration came after the COVID-19 pandemic when U.S. immigration policy changed. Lawful admissions rose, as well as encounters between migrants and U.S. authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border
The 14 million number came after two years of record growth, according to a Pew estimate. The increase of 3.5 million in two years is the largest on record.
The number with temporary protections from deportations increased after 2021, following policy changes made by the President Joe Biden administration that allowed many immigrants to arrive in the U.S. with protected status and others to gain protection soon after arrival.
In 2023, unauthorized immigrants accounted for 27% of all U.S. immigrants, up from 22% in 2021. The group’s share of the U.S. population increased from 3.1% to 4.1%.
The six states with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations in 2023 were California with 2.3 million, Texas at 2.1 million, Florida with 1.6 million, 825,000 in New York, New Jersey with 600,000 and Illinois at 550,000.
These states have consistently had the most unauthorized immigrants since at least 1980. But in 2007, California had 1.2 million more unauthorized immigrants than Texas. Today, it has only about 200,000 more.
These populations grew in 32 states from 2021 to 2023. Florida saw the largest growth with an increase of 700,000, followed by Texas at 450,000, California with 425,000 and New York with an increase of 230,000.
Eight more states saw their unauthorized immigrant populations increase by 75,000 or more: New Jersey, Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio.