Indians third-largest illegal immigrants group in US: Study

Indians constitute the third-largest illegal immigrant population in the United States, a recent study by the Pew Research Center has revealed. The study, conducted by the Washington-based think tank, indicates that the country currently has over 725,000 Indians living illegally.

The United States witnessed the largest influx of illegal migrants from neighbouring Mexico, followed by El Salvador (800,000) and India during 2017-2021. India saw an increase in the number of illegal migrants since 2017.

In total, the unauthorised immigrant population in the United States reached 10.5 million in 2021, remaining below the peak of 12.2 million in 2007, the study stated.

“There were increases in unauthorised immigrants from nearly every other region of the world – Central America, the Caribbean, South America, Asia, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa,” the researchers noted.

Other countries contributing illegal migrants to the US include Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, former Soviet Union countries, China, and the Dominican Republic, among others.

The states with the maximum number of unauthorised immigrants are California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. While Florida and Washington saw increases in the illegal immigrant populations, California and Nevada saw a decline. All other states remained unchanged, according to the Pew study.

At least 4.6 per cent of the US workforce in 2021 consists of unauthorised immigrants.

The lawful immigrant population also grew by more than 8 million, a 29 per cent increase, during 2017-2021. In total, the foreign-born population, including authorised individuals, was 14.1 per cent of the US population in 2021, slightly higher than in the last five years.