Jeffrey Passel is a senior demographer at Pew Research Center. He is a nationally known expert on immigration to the United States and the demography of racial and ethnic groups. Passel formerly served as principal research associate at the Urban Institute’s Labor, Human Services and Population Center. Passel has authored numerous studies on immigrant populations in America, focusing on such topics as undocumented immigration, the economic and fiscal impact of the foreign born, and the impact of welfare reform on immigrant populations. Passel regularly discusses the Center’s findings in print and broadcast media.
There were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2016, down from 12.2 million in 2007. The total is the lowest since 2004 and is tied to a decline in the number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants.
About 250,000 babies were born to unauthorized immigrant parents in the United States in 2016, the latest year for which information is available, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data about illegal immigration. This represents a 36% decrease from a peak of about 390,000 in 2007.
The number and share of Americans living in multigenerational family households have continued to rise. In 2016, a record 64 million people, or 20% of the U.S. population, lived with multiple generations under one roof.
The increase from these countries exceeded modest growth of the overall foreign-born population and came amid a decline in immigrants from Mexico.
About 629,000 foreign visitors who were expected to leave the U.S. in fiscal 2016 were still in the U.S. when the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
As the Mexican share of the total declined, the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S. in 2015 was smaller than when the Great Recession ended.
The increase in the potential labor force will slow markedly as Baby Boomers retire. Immigrants will play the primary role in future growth of the working-age population.
There were 8 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. working or looking for work in 2014, making up 5% of the civilian labor force.
About 275,000 babies were born to unauthorized-immigrant parents in 2014, a decline from 330,000 in 2009.
© 2024 Pew Research Center
