Indians form third-largest illegal immigrant population in U.S.: Pew Research estimates

Unauthorised immigrants in US from India, El Salvador, Central America, South and East Asia increased from 2007-2021, reaching 10.5 million in 2021. California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois had largest populations. Naturalised citizens accounted for 49% of all immigrants in US.

There were about 725,000 Indian illegal immigrants in the US -- the third largest population of unauthorised immigrants after Mexico and El Salvador, according to new Pew Research Centre estimates.

As of 2021, the country's 10.5 million unauthorised immigrants represented about 3% of the total U.S. population and 22% of the foreign-born population, the Washington-based think tank said.

Almost every region in the world had a notable increase in the number of unauthorised immigrants in the US from 2007 to 2021, with the largest increase from Central America (240,000) and South and East Asia (180,000).

While the number of unauthorised immigrants from Mexico living in the US — 4.1 million in 2021 — was the lowest since the 1990s, El Salvador — 800,000 — and India with 725,000 immigrants saw an increase in the numbers, the report said.

Among countries with the largest numbers of U.S. unauthorised immigrants, India, Brazil, Canada and former Soviet Union countries all experienced growth from 2017 to 2021, the report said.

The six states with the largest unauthorised immigrant populations in 2021 were: California (1.9 million), Texas (1.6 million), Florida (900,000), New York (600,000), New Jersey (450,000) and Illinois (400,000), the report said.

In 2021, the population of unauthorised immigrants from other countries was 6.4 million, up by 900,000 from 2017, the report said.