Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics

This report examines the characteristics and demographics of the unauthorized population in the United States. It was developed as a briefing paper for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future, co-chaired by former Senator Spencer Abraham (RMI) and former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN). The bipartisan task force has been convened by the Migration Policy Institute in partnership with the Manhattan Institute and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 

The report on the unauthorized population was presented to the task force by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, DC, to provide a factual basis for its discussions. The Pew Hispanic Center, which does not engage in issue advocacy, is not participating in the task force’s deliberations or its policy recommendations. 

The report draws on both new research and previous work done by the author at the Pew Hispanic Center and the Urban Institute.