Mexican Immigrants in the United States
October 8, 2024
Mexicans are the largest group of immigrants in the United States, accounting for about 23 percent of all 47.8 million foreign-born residents as of 2023. The population shrank by more than 1 million people from its peak of 11.7 million in 2010 to 10.7 million in 2022 but has started growing again. As of 2023, 10.9 million U.S. residents were immigrants from Mexico.
The United States remains by far the most popular destination for Mexican migrants worldwide. And Mexicans are the largest group of new U.S. green-card holders and naturalized citizens. Yet between 2005 and 2014, the number of Mexicans leaving the United States outpaced the number of new arrivals, according to Pew Research Center estimates. The trend was due to several factors, including the global financial crisis in 2008-09, the strengthening Mexican economy, and increasing U.S. immigration enforcement. From 2013 to 2021, India and China overtook Mexico as the top origin countries of new immigrants. The small recent uptick in the Mexican immigrant population as of 2023 may be partly attributed to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including economic shocks in Mexico.
Reflecting their large presence among the overall immigrant population in the United States, Mexicans also represent the largest group of unauthorized immigrants, accounting for 45 percent of the 11.3 million people without legal status as of mid-2022, according to Migration Policy Institute (MPI) estimates. However, the number of unauthorized Mexican immigrants has similarly been falling for more than 15 years, and MPI estimates it has declined by 34 percent since 2007, from 7.7 million people to 5.1 million in 2022. Moreover, the Mexican share of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border irregularly has shrunk, down from 90 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2003 to 64 percent in FY 2013 and 29 percent in FY 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-united-states
