Texas ranks among top states for unauthorized immigrant population
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Texas is among six states where the majority of the nation's 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants live, per new estimates — yet growth has likely slowed (and perhaps even reversed) since then.
Why it matters: The report, from nonpartisan think tank Migration Policy Institute (MPI), offers insight into a group that's notoriously hard to count — and thus understand.
The big picture: The overall U.S. unauthorized immigrant population grew by three million between 2019 and mid-2023, MPI found, noting the country "has not experienced a pace of change this rapid ... since the early 2000s."
By the numbers: California (21.2%), Texas (14.3%), Florida (8.9%) and New York (6.1%) have the highest shares of the country's overall unauthorized immigrant population.
- Harris County (4.4%) — which encompasses Houston — has one of the highest shares among U.S. counties, while Bexar County's share is 0.7%.
Zoom in: As of mid-2023, unauthorized immigrants made up about a quarter of the country's total foreign-born population, per the report.
- Mexicans' share of the unauthorized immigrant population fell to 40% from 62% in 2010 amid more arrivals from South America and the Caribbean.
Stunning stat: Some 6.3 million children — "all but 1 million of them U.S. citizens" — live with at least one unauthorized immigrant parent.
- "Such children are often strongly affected by their parents' limited employment opportunities and restrictions on eligibility for public assistance, as well as the threat of separation due to immigration enforcement," the authors write.
How it works: The U.S. Census Bureau doesn't ask respondents about their legal status, and those in the country without authorization might not volunteer that information regardless.
- MPI estimates legal status by linking Census Bureau survey data from the American Community Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation, according to the report.
What's next: Unauthorized immigration probably stopped growing last year and potentially began reversing this year, due to fewer border crossings, stronger enforcement and efforts to discourage immigration overall, MPI's report notes.