New Delhi: A new report by the Pew Research Centre has revealed that India has the third largest population of illegal immigrants in the US, after Mexico and El Salvador. The report estimates that there were about 725,000 Indian unauthorised immigrants in the US in 2021, up from 600,000 in 2017. The report, based on census data and other sources, shows that the total number of unauthorised immigrants in the US reached 10.5 million in 2021.


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This number represents about three per cent of the total US population and 22 per cent of the foreign-born population. This is a slight increase from 10.3 million in 2017, but still below the peak of 12.2 million in 2007.


The report also finds that the number of unauthorised immigrants from Mexico, the largest source country, declined to 4.1 million in 2021, the lowest since the 1990s. However, the number of unauthorised immigrants from other regions, especially Central America and Asia, increased significantly. Central America accounted for the largest increase, with 240,000 more unauthorised immigrants in 2021 than in 2017, followed by South and East Asia, with 180,000 more.


Among the countries with the largest numbers of US unauthorised immigrants, India, Brazil, Canada and former Soviet Union countries all experienced growth from 2017 to 2021, the report says. El Salvador, with 800,000 unauthorised immigrants, and Guatemala and Honduras, with 700,000 and 525,000 respectively, also saw an increase in their numbers.


The report also reveals that 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). These six states accounted for 60 per cent of the total unauthorised immigrant population in the US.


The report notes that the UT administration has taken action against the unauthorised immigrants and their supporters by invoking Article 311 (2) © of the Constitution of India, which allows it to terminate their employment without an inquiry. In the last three years, the UT administration has sacked more than 59 such employees for their involvement in anti-national and terror activities.


The report also compares the trends of the unauthorised immigrant population with the lawful immigrant population in the US. It says that the lawful immigrant population grew by more than 8 million, a 29 per cent increase, and the number of naturalised US citizens grew by 49 per cent. In 2021, naturalised citizens accounted for about half (49 per cent) of all immigrants in the country, the report says.