30 Cities with Most Illegal Immigrants in the US

Faheem Tahir
13 min read

In This Article:

In this piece, we are going to look at the 30 Cities with Most Illegal Immigrants in the US. If you want to skip our analysis of the immigration issues in the U.S., you can go directly to 7 Cities with Most Illegal Immigrants in the US.

Illegal immigration has been a longstanding and contentious issue in the United States, especially in the lead-up to the 2024 election. States like Iowa and New Hampshire, far from the southern border, are placing significant importance on immigration alongside the economy when considering their voting choices in the Republican primaries.

The number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record high in December, with 302,000 incidents, and apprehensions hit 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022. Over 100,000 migrants have been relocated to cities like Washington, Los Angeles, and New York. The visibility of migrants in urban areas across the U.S., such as Manhattan and Chicago, has brought the issue of illegal immigration closer to home for many Americans, amplifying its significance in the current political landscape.

The influx of migrants entering the U.S. through the southern border has notably increased in recent years, particularly during the administration of President Joe Biden. Reports indicate that more than 2.3 million migrants were released into the country under the Biden administration, predominantly consisting of families and some adult groups. Moreover, CBP data shows that over 6 million migrants were taken into custody during the same period, with the number of illegal crossings in November 2023 alone nearing 250,000. The majority of these individuals were released into the country with ongoing claims for protection. According to a report by The New York Times, the estimated number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. now stands at around 11 million, as in 2024, a threefold increase from the figure in 1990.

By June 2023, FAIR has projected that around 16.8 million undocumented individuals are living in the United States. This figure shows a notable increase compared to our January 2022 estimate of 15.5 million illegal residents. The 2023 estimate reflects a rise of 2.3 million from the end of 2020, indicating a 16% nationwide escalation in the illegal alien population within the initial two years of Joe Biden's presidency.

While illegal immigration has been an “issue” for the country for many decades, some immigrations have resulted in an influx of skilled and talented pool of people who have contributed substantially to the country’s economy and are still contributing. So before we move on to our list of 30 Cities with Most Illegal Immigrants in the US, let’s look at the outcome of influx of such immigrants in the country, in the form of some companies founded by immigrants. Namely, we are going to look at Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC), Coupang, Inc. (NYSE:CPNG) and Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQGS:MRNA).

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