Illegal immigration in US hit record 14 million in 2023, far below Trump’s claims: Pew Research

Six states accounted for the largest numbers of people in the country illegally: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.

The number of people living in the United States without legal status soared to 14 million in 2023, the highest ever recorded, according to new estimates from the Pew Research Centre. The findings come amid heated political debate, with figures from US President Donald Trump and restrictionist groups painting a much higher, and often conflicting, picture.

A historic surge

Pew’s estimate jumped from 11.8 million in 2022 to 14 million in 2023, surpassing the previous peak of 12.2 million in 2007. Nearly all the increase came from migrants outside Mexico, with significant numbers arriving from Guatemala, El Salvador, India, Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Ukraine, and Peru.

Mexicans remain the single largest nationality, at 4.3 million, but the growth in recent years has overwhelmingly come from other countries — rising to 9.7 million in 2023, up from 6.4 million just two years earlier.

Trump’s claims vs research data

In March, Trump told Congress that 21 million people “poured into the United States” in the past four years, far higher than Pew’s estimates or border arrest figures.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimated 18.6 million earlier this year.

The Center for Immigration Studies put the figure at 14.2 million in July, down from a peak of 15.8 million in January.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently touted a 1.6 million drop in six months, calling it 'massive.'

By contrast, Pew’s more conservative data, drawn from U.S. Census Bureau surveys and Homeland Security statistics, shows a slower climb followed by modest declines under Trump’s renewed restrictions in 2025.

What drove the rise

Pew attributes the record spike to a combination of:

• Asylum seekers crossing the border under Biden-era policies that allowed scheduled appointments through the CBP One app.
• Temporary legal protections for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
• Expansion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to nationals from conflict-ridden countries.
• Trump has since rolled back these policies, aiming to shrink the number of people eligible for temporary relief.

Where migrants are concentrated

Six states accounted for the largest numbers of people in the country illegally: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois.

Texas, in particular, is closing the gap with California as the top destination. But interestingly, some states, including Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon, reported fewer undocumented residents in 2023 than they did at the previous peak in 2007.

In the workforce

A record 9.7 million undocumented immigrants were part of the U.S. workforce in 2023, representing 5.6% of the total labor force. Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, and Texas had the highest shares.

Meanwhile, the overall immigrant population, regardless of legal status, reached more than 53 million in January 2025, accounting for 15.8% of the U.S. population. That number has since dipped, which Pew says could mark the first decline since the 1960s.

(With inputs from Associated Press)