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What is the overall racial breakdown of undocumented immigrants in the US?
Executive summary
Available sources show sizable variation in estimates of the US unauthorized/undocumented population and emphasize changing origins and diversity rather than a single “racial breakdown.” Pew, MPI, Migration Policy Institute, and other research centers report totals ranging roughly from about 11–14 million for mid‑2023 estimates (Pew revised 2022 to 11.8 million and finds 2023 growth to a record 14 million in one report) and MPI/Migration Policy reporting 11.4–13.7 million for 2023; these publications highlight that the population is increasingly diverse and that Mexico is a declining source, with rising shares from Central America, Asia and other regions [1] [2] [3] [4]. Available sources do not give a single, straightforward “racial” percentage breakdown in the form the question likely expects (for example, a neat White/Black/Asian/Hispanic split by race); instead they present origin-region and national-origin data and note methodological uncertainty [3] [4] [1].
1. Numbers matter, but they don’t settle “race.”
Researchers disagree on the overall count of unauthorized immigrants — estimates cited in the recent literature span roughly 11 to 14 million (and advocacy groups offer higher estimates) — and those differences affect any derived racial percentages; Pew’s updated work cites revised 2022 and 2023 estimates and discusses data limits for 2024–25 [1] [2]. Because agencies and research groups define and measure the population differently (Census-based imputations, administrative parole data, differing inclusion of parolees or temporary humanitarian entrants), none of the major sources in the set provides a single, uncontested racial breakdown [3] [1].
2. Origin-region reporting is the clearest common thread.
Instead of race, the most consistent reporting across Migration Policy Institute (MPI), Migration Policy fact sheets and Pew is by region or country of origin: Mexico remains a large source but its share has declined; Central American, Caribbean, South American and Asian origins have risen, producing more heterogeneous origin profiles among unauthorized migrants [4] [3] [2]. Those origin patterns imply racial diversity — Hispanic/Latino (many from Mexico and Central America) comprise a substantial share, but there are also growing numbers from non‑Latin American countries — yet the sources present these as origin/ethnicity data rather than strict racial categories [4] [3].
3. Why “race” is tricky in the data: measurement and categories.
U.S. surveys and administrative sources typically record nativity, Hispanic origin, and country of birth more reliably than race for foreign‑born people; researchers then impute unauthorized status using those data. That process produces good estimates of national origin and region but complicates a clean racial breakdown (white, Black, Asian, etc.) because race is socially defined, reported differently across groups, and often not the focus of unauthorized‑status estimation methods [3] [1].
4. What published estimates do show about composition and trends.
MPI/Migration Policy’s 2023 profiles and fact sheets describe an unauthorized population that is larger and more diverse in origin (they report figures such as 11.4 million or 13.7 million in different products), and Pew’s analyses emphasize growth through 2023 followed by policy‑driven shifts afterward; these sources emphasize origin, length of stay, employment sectors and family composition rather than producing a single racial percentage table [3] [4] [1] [2].
5. Competing estimates and agendas shape headline numbers.
Non‑academic groups produce much higher or lower totals — for example, FAIR offered an 18.6 million estimate in 2025, a figure much larger than academic/research center estimates — and such organizations often have clear policy goals that influence methodology choices and public messaging [5]. Academic and policy researchers (Pew, MPI, Migration Policy) emphasize methodological caveats and revisions [1] [3] [4].
6. Practical takeaway for your question: what you can reliably say.
Based on available reporting, you can say: (a) scholarly and government‑oriented sources place the unauthorized population in the low‑to‑mid tens of millions (roughly 11–14 million for mid‑2023 estimates), (b) the population is ethnically and geographically diverse with a still‑substantial Hispanic/Latino share but rising shares from other regions, and (c) the sources cited do not present a single, authoritative racial breakdown in standard race categories — they focus on country/region of origin and demographic trends instead [1] [4] [3] [2].
Limitations and next steps: if you need a race‑based table (White/Black/Asian/Native/Other), current reporting in these sources does not provide that concise breakdown; you would need to request or compute it from microdata (ACS/SIPP) with careful imputation of unauthorized status and explicit methodological choices — a process MPI and others document but do not present as a single one‑line racial share in the cited material [3] [1].