Indians rank as third-largest illegal immigrant population in US: Data

The Pew Research Center has revealedthat Indians constitute the third-largest group of unauthorised immigrants in the US, totalling around 725,000.

This places Mexico and El Salvador ahead on the list. The study indicates that10.5 million unauthorised immigrants in the US represent about three per cent of the total population and 22 per cent of the foreign-born population.

US Customs and Border Protection data highlights a significant influx of undocumented Indian immigrants, with 6,917 encounters in the period from October 2022 to September 2023.

The number surged after COVID-19 border restrictions eased, reaching 63,927 in the 2022 fiscal year, with 97,000 encounters this year.

“The total number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. from countries other than Mexico has grown rapidly. In 2021, this population was 6.4 million, up by 900,000 from 2017,”the research says.

“Almost every region in the world had a notable increase in the number of unauthorized immigrants in the USfrom 2007 to 2021. The largest increases were from Central America (240,000) and South and East Asia (180,000),” it adds.

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Which states have the highest tally?

Notably, California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois have the highest concentrations of unauthorised immigrants, while only Florida and Washington experienced increases in their unauthorised immigrant populations. Conversely, California and Nevada witnessed declines.

“Meanwhile, the lawful immigrant population grew by more than 8 million, a 29% increase, and the number of naturalized U.S. citizens grew by 49%. In 2021, naturalized citizens accounted for about half (49%) of all immigrants in the country,” the research says.

(With inputs from agencies)