The unauthorized immigrant population in the United States grew to 11.0 million in 2022, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on the 2022 American Community Survey, the most recent year available. The increase from 10.5 million in 2021 reversed a long-term downward trend from 2007 to 2019. This is the first sustained increase in the unauthorized immigrant population since the period from 2005 to 2007. However, the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. in 2022 was still below the peak of 12.2 million in 2007. Who are unauthorized immigrants? These new estimates do not reflect events since mid-2022. The U.S. unauthorized immigrant population has likely grown over the past two years, based on several alternative data sources. For example, encounters with migrants at U.S. borders reached record levels throughout 2022-23, and the number of applicants waiting for decisions on asylum claims increased by about 1 million by the end of 2023…Immigrants made up 14.3% of the nation’s population in 2022. That share was slightly higher than in the previous five years but below the record high of 14.8% in 1890. As of 2022, unauthorized immigrants represented 3.3% of the total U.S. population and 23% of the foreign-born population. These shares were lower than the peak values in 2007 but slightly higher than in 2019. Meanwhile, the lawful immigrant population grew steadily from 24.1 million in 2000 to 36.9 million in 2022. The growth was driven by a rapid increase in the number of naturalized citizens, from 10.7 million to 23.4 million. The number of lawful permanent residents dropped slightly, from 11.9 million to 11.5 million. As a result, in 2022, 49% of all immigrants in the country were naturalized U.S. citizens… Which states do unauthorized immigrants call home? Most U.S. states’ unauthorized immigrant populations stayed steady from 2019 to 2022. However, six states showed significant growth:

• Florida (+400,000)
• Texas (+85,000)
• New York (+70,000)
• New Jersey (+55,000)
• Massachusetts (+50,000)
• Maryland (+40,000)