According to recent estimates by the Pew Research Center, Indian immigrants constitute the third-largest group of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, numbering around 725,000. As of 2021, the total unauthorized immigrant population in the country was approximately 10.5 million, representing about three percent of the overall US population and 22 percent of the foreign-born population.
Mexico remains the largest contributor, accounting for 39 percent of the unauthorized immigrant population with around 4.1 million individuals, followed by El Salvador (800,000), India (725,000), and Guatemala (700,000).
While the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico saw a decline of 900,000 from 2017 to 2021, there was notable growth in the unauthorized immigrant populations from other countries, reaching 6.4 million in 2021, up by 900,000 from 2017.
Data from US Customs and Border Protection highlights an unprecedented trend of undocumented Indian immigrants crossing the US borders on foot. Between October 2022 and September 2023, 96,917 Indians were apprehended, expelled, or denied entry for entering the US without proper documentation. Since the reopening of borders post-COVID, there has been a significant increase in encounters: 30,662 in the 2021 fiscal year and 63,927 in the 2022 fiscal year.
Among the nearly 97,000 encounters this year, 30,010 occurred at the Canadian border, and 41,770 at the Southern border. The research also reveals that around 7.8 million unauthorized immigrants were part of the US labor force in 2021.
Regarding changes in specific states, Florida and Washington observed increases in their unauthorized immigrant populations, while California and Nevada witnessed decreases. On the legal immigration front, there was an increase of over eight million in the lawful immigrant population, marking a 29 percent growth, while the number of naturalized US citizens grew by 49 percent in 2021.
(With Agency Inputs)
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