Of the 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the US, 725,000 are believed to be Indian nationals, according to a new study by Pew Research. Mexico tops the list, accounting for 39 percent of the total population (6.4 million) of undocumented immigrants; El Salvador comes in next with 800,000 immigrants, followed by India.
The population of illegal immigrants from most countries, including India, had increased from 2017 to 2021, the report found. Recently, data from the United States Customs and Border Protection (UCBP) showed that close to 97,000 people from India were detained at US borders compared to about 20,000 three years ago.
The Pew report highlighted that 10.5 million undocumented immigrants resided in the United States in 2021, making up roughly 3 percent of the total population and 22 percent of those who were born outside of the country.
Illegal immigrants were mostly concentrated in six states: California (1.9 million), Texas (1.6 million), Florida (900,000), New York (600,000), New Jersey (450,000), and Illinois (400,000). Despite the fact that these states have long been the safe havens for the majority of undocumented immigrants, there has been a noticeable shift in their collective dominance. It has declined from 80 percent in the 1990s to 56 percent now, the report found.
The findings also indicated that the legal immigrant population in the United States grew by more than 8 million, recording a 29 percent increase. The number of naturalised US citizens grew by 49 percent, accounting for about half of all the immigrant population in the country in 2021.
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