U.S. hit record for unauthorized immigrants in 2023 — not Arizona
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Despite a record number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2023, sparked by migration from countries other than Mexico, Arizona was well below its all-time high, a new Pew Research Center analysis says.
Why it matters: The report sheds light on the massive jump in unauthorized immigrants during the first two years of the Biden presidency, a historic rise that fueled the backlash that aided Donald Trump's return to the White House.
By the numbers: Pew tallied 300,000 unauthorized immigrants in Arizona in 2023.
- That equaled 4.1% of the state's population, the same percentage as the country as a whole.
- People here without authorization made up 29% of Arizona's total immigrant population, slightly ahead of the 27% they make up of the national immigrant population.
- The study had a margin of error of 30,000 people in Arizona.
Yes, but: Arizona was significantly below its 2007 record of 500,000 unauthorized immigrants.
Zoom out: The number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. reached the all-time high of 14 million after two consecutive years of record growth, according to Pew Research Center estimates released Thursday.
- The number of unauthorized immigrants who were born in countries other than Mexico grew from 6.4 million to 9.7 million from 2021 to 2023, Pew reported.
Zoom in: The jump in immigration in 2023 came after President Biden dropped some of Trump's pre-pandemic immigration restrictions and migrants returned to the U.S.-Mexico border, overwhelming federal and local officials.
- Arizona's number was 250,000 in 2019, the last year of Trump's first term, and in 2021, the first year of Biden's presidency.
Between the lines: The report's tally of unauthorized immigrants included those who were in the U.S. with some protections from deportation.
- About 6 million immigrants without full legal status had some protection from deportation in 2023, up from 2.7 million in 2021.
The intrigue: Early data show that the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. continued to rise in 2024, but dropped earlier this year as the second Trump administration began immigration raids and ended many protections, Pew said.
- Arizona saw a substantial drop in the number of illegal border crossings after Trump took office.
What they're saying: "Promises made. Promises kept," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Axios when asked about the Pew report.