WASHINGTON — The unauthorized U.S. immigrant population grew to its highest level ever by mid-2024, increasing to 15.8 million after hovering at about 11 million since 2010, according to data released Wednesday by a nonpartisan think tank that tracks migration.
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The increase primarily stemmed from the historic levels of migration at the southern border that started in 2021 and the Biden administration’s wide use of humanitarian parole and other temporary legal status for millions of people, according to a Migration Policy Institute report based on the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey in 2024.
“Between 2019 and 2024, MPI estimates the unauthorized immigrant population experienced a net growth of approximately 5 million people, or an average of 8 percent per year,” according to the report.
“The increases were driven by the uncommonly strong U.S. economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the large-scale displacement from countries throughout the Americas fueled by gang violence, political repression, and economic challenges.”
But under the second Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign and continued practice of revoking previously granted legal status for immigrants, a decrease in the unauthorized population is likely.
“Should the administration succeed in its efforts to sizably ramp up deportations and if border entries remain at their remarkably low levels, the unauthorized immigrant population may begin to decrease into 2026 and beyond,” according to the report.
Some of that 2024 growth was also due to several Biden administration policies. The administration created new humanitarian parole programs that allowed migrants from Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Ukraine and Venezuela to legally enter the United States and obtain work permits, according to the report.
Another tool rolled out by the Biden administration, the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to schedule appointments to apply for asylum, also contributed to the growth of migration to the U.S.
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The biggest growth spurt occurred between 2022 and 2023, with an increase of 1.6 million newly arrived migrants.
The report also found that while Mexico typically stands as the top country of origin for migrants arriving, “the Mexican share of the unauthorized population has dropped dramatically — from being the overwhelming share in the 1980s and 1990s, to 62 percent in 2010 and 35 percent as of 2024.”
Migrants from Central and South America have driven the change in nationality makeup, according to the report.
“This trend reflects sharp increases in recent arrivals of Ecuadorians, Colombians, and especially Venezuelans, as well as steady growth in unauthorized arrivals from Guatemala and Honduras,” according to the report.
In 2023, the Biden administration created two new humanitarian parole processes. One was for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.The second was for migrants using the CBP One app.
Those humanitarian programs were similar to one created in 2021 for Afghans, after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from the country, and for Ukrainians, after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. In total, those humanitarian parole programs included roughly 1.4 million immigrants.
The second Trump administration ended those humanitarian parole protections, turned the CBP One app into a self-deportation tool, and has moved to end Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
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