How many undocumented immigrants originate from European countries?
Executive summary
Estimates suggest a relatively small minority of the U.S. unauthorized/undocumented population was born in Europe — on the order of a few hundred thousand people — but precise counts vary by data source and method; using recent estimates and older regional breakdowns produces a plausible range of about 400,000–700,000 European-born undocumented immigrants, roughly 3–5 percent of the total unauthorized population (Pew: 14 million total; MPI/CMS estimates lower totals) [1] [2] [3].
1. What the numbers usually mean and why Europe looks small
Researchers use different base tallies of the unauthorized population — Pew’s August 2025 estimate puts the unauthorized population at 14 million, while other widely used estimates (Migration Policy Institute, Center for Migration Studies) put the 2023/2024 range nearer to 11–12 million — and regional origin shares are then applied to those totals, so the absolute count of European-born undocumented people depends both on the total and the region-share method [1] [2] [3].
2. What past official breakdowns show about Europe and Canada combined
Historical DHS and Congressional Research Service tabulations have placed the Europe-and-Canada share of the unauthorized population at about 4 percent in earlier years; applying that share to the commonly cited totals from the 2010s produced estimates in the neighborhood of 400,000–500,000 people from Europe and Canada combined, a figure repeated in public fact-check reporting (DHS/CRS summary cited by 11Alive) [4].
3. Recent think‑tank counts and the Migration Policy Institute snapshot
Migration Policy Institute’s 2023-profile work and data tools offer country- and region-origin breakdowns that researchers use to allocate shares of the estimated 11.4–12.2 million undocumented figure MPI and CMS report; MPI’s analyses have been cited as implying several hundred thousand European-born unauthorized residents, a number on the order of the roughly 579,000 figure referenced in fact-check coverage (MPI profile; 11Alive’s verify summary) [2] [4] [3].
4. Measurement challenges that widen the range
Estimating who is “unauthorized” is methodologically fraught: researchers combine survey data, administrative records and residual methods, adjust for undercount, and impute citizenship or status by country of birth — choices that change regional tallies; Social Security Bulletin and other methodological reviews explain why small-population region estimates like “Europe” have larger proportional uncertainty than larger-origin groups [5] [2].
5. A defensible current range and its logic
Given (a) Pew’s 2023 high-end total of 14 million unauthorized immigrants [1], (b) MPI/CMS style estimates nearer 11–12 million [3] [2], and (c) historical shares for Europe/Canada around 3–4 percent (CRS/DHS summaries cited in media) [4], the most defensible conclusion from available reporting is that European-born undocumented immigrants number in the low hundreds of thousands — plausibly 400,000–700,000 depending on the total unauthorized population used and whether Canada is grouped with Europe in older tabulations [1] [4] [2].
6. Alternative interpretations and hidden agendas to watch for
Some commentators cite round numbers like “half a million” to argue for parity in enforcement or to shift public attention away from southern-border flows; those figures are rooted in legitimate prior estimates (and in MPI/CRS reporting) but can be amplified or decontextualized in political messaging, so it is important to note the source and year when a specific Europe-origin count is quoted [4].
7. What reporting cannot show from the provided sources
The assembled sources do not provide a single, definitive 2024–2025 count of undocumented immigrants by European country of birth; DHS/OHSS maintains regional tables and MPI provides imputed profiles, but a precise, current tabulation from a single authoritative source tying Europe-only origin to the latest national total is not present in the provided materials, so the range above reflects synthesis rather than a unique official headcount [6] [2].