Changing Origins, Rising Numbers: Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States

The 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States as of mid-2023 reflect increasingly diverse origins, socioeconomic and labor market characteristics, family composition, and places of settlement.

After a decade of stagnation, the unauthorized immigrant population now is up by 3 million since 2019, representing 26 percent of the overall foreign-born population in the United States.

This fact sheet sketches the changes in the unauthorized immigrant population, drawing on a unique MPI methodology that allows the assignment of legal status in data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). It provides key information on countries/regions of birth, years of U.S. residence, top job sectors, workforce participation, educational attainment, family composition, U.S. destinations, and more.

Among the key findings, all as of mid-2023:

• 14 million U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (also known as green‑card holders), or temporary visa holders shared a household with an unauthorized immigrant. 
• Nearly 4.2 million unauthorized immigrants were married to a U.S. citizen or green-card holder.
• 6.3 million children under age 18 lived with at least one unauthorized immigrant parent. All but 1 million of those children are U.S. citizens.
• Mexicans accounted for 40 percent of all unauthorized immigrants—down significantly from their 62 percent share in 2010.

As the fact sheet and accompanying sociodemographic data profiles at state and top county levels show, the characteristics and experiences of unauthorized immigrants vary across U.S. states and localities. Understanding their workforce, economic, and sociodemographic characteristics is important for policymakers, service providers, and the public in an era of rapidly changing policy.