The Unauthorized Immigrant Population Expands amid Record U.S.-Mexico Border Arrivals
2025/02/10 2 Comments
Helps explain some of the Trump administration concerns with the Southern border (but not the Northern one). Good series of explanatory charts:
Amid record encounters of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal years (FY) 2021 and 2022 and wide use of humanitarian parole to allow entry of migrants arriving without visas, the size of the unauthorized immigrant population has reached its highest level yet. The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates that approximately 13.7 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the United States as of mid-2023, up from 12.8 million the year prior. MPI revised upwards its estimates for 2022 and prior years, using an updated methodology that permits better addressing the Census Bureau’s undercount of new immigrants.
Between 2019 and 2023, the unauthorized immigrant population grew by 3 million, or an average of 6 percent per year (see Figure 1). The nation had not seen yearly increases this large since the early 2000s.
This growth is partially explained by increased irregular arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border, with a rising mix of nationalities from across the Western Hemisphere from countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, and Nicaragua, as well as hundreds of thousands of people who entered with humanitarian parole from Ukraine, Mexico, Haiti, and other countries. And it also stems from sizable numbers of Europeans and others who overstayed their nonimmigrant visa.
Most of the changes are expected continuations of trends that started several years ago. For example, the unauthorized immigrant population from Venezuela started to grow quickly following the severe economic and political turbulence that began there in 2015. Likewise, the unauthorized populations from Honduras and Guatemala grew rapidly starting around 2019….
Source: The Unauthorized Immigrant Population Expands amid Record U.S.-Mexico Border Arrivals
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
I wonder how many are going in across the US border and why. From the bits and pieces I can find in media, I am guessing the numbers are up and the border-crossers include criminals. If we want to be a responsible neighbour to the US, AND avoid tariffs, we have to face this and screen new arrivals to Canada properly. What I’m reading is that foreign workers and foreign students are being allowed in with little screening or none at all.
Numbers are available and appears to be driven in part by people smugglers (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/illegal-migration-canada-united-states-1.7320623). Screening is reasonably strong but no system is perfect. Most are likely just seeking a better life.