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New York has more than 600K ‘undocumented’ immigrants, data shows. Who are they?

Arya Sundaram

Published Dec 2, 2024

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Hundreds of asylum seekers line up outside of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on June 6, 2023, in New York City.

David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Arya Sundaram

Published Dec 2, 2024

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President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge for mass deportations has cast a new spotlight on the more than 220,000 migrants, mostly asylum-seekers, who have filled New York City shelters in an influx that began two years ago.

But they are just some of the state’s most visible immigrants.

Overall, New York state was home to an estimated 672,000 “undocumented” immigrants in 2022 alone, according to data from the Center for Migration Studies, a prominent think tank that tracks immigrants and their demographics across the country.

And most in that number have lived in the country for more than a decade, according to the Center’s data.

The term undocumented, as defined by the center, spans a wide range of immigrants with different statuses. The category includes visa overstayers and long-time residents who have never interacted with immigration authorities or ever stayed in a city shelter.

But any one of their number could potentially face detention or removal under Trump’s deportation plan. Although he has not said in detail who among the undocumented would be targeted, the president-elect has promised the “largest deportation operation” in the country’s history, to start on his first day in office, with the help of the military.

His advisers have even suggested that they’ll pursue a plan to strip citizenship from some naturalized immigrants.

Roughly a third of the country’s 11 million undocumented immigrants are also those with legal permission to stay in the country, according to the Center for Migration Studies’ Executive Director Mario Russell.

That includes asylum-seekers, humanitarian parolees and recipients of special immigration programs such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) “Dreamers.”

The available data paints a rough picture of immigrants in New York who could be potential targets of Trump’s effort. It is a diverse mosaic, with large pockets of people from Latin America and Asia, many living in Queens and Brooklyn.

It also is a population with worse economic and educational fortunes than other immigrants and New Yorkers.

New York City is one of the most immigrant-populated cities in the United States and across the globe: Over a third of the city's residents are immigrants. And undocumented immigrants make up 5% of the city’s population.

Here’s what else to know about the undocumented in New York state, based on the Center for Migration Studies data and other information:

Most have been here for over a decade

Most undocumented immigrants in New York state have been in the country for more than a decade, according to center data through 2022. More than three-quarters have resided in the United States for over five years.

1 in 5 are Asian

Mexico has long been the most common country of origin for undocumented immigrants in New York and the nation.

But Mexican undocumented immigrants are less prominent in New York state than they are in the U.S. overall. Instead, the state is home to greater shares of undocumented immigrants from the Dominican Republic and China, among other countries.

In many ways, New York City’s undocumented community mirrors the city and state’s broader immigrant profile.

“Always the groups that are the biggest immigrant groups are the biggest undocumented groups,” said Tyler Anbinder, a George Washington University professor who researches the history of immigration in New York.

In the 1920s, he said, two of the largest undocumented immigrant groups in New York City were Eastern European Jews and Italians.

As of 2022, one in five undocumented immigrants in New York state hailed from Asia, more than any other continent, according to the CMS data. Over a third of the Asian immigrants, 7% overall, come from China. And more undocumented New Yorkers are from India than Venezuela, Nicaragua and Peru combined.

New York is also home to a large share of Black undocumented immigrants. About 11% of undocumented New Yorkers identify as Black, compared to 5% nationwide. That’s as of 2022, before an influx of West African migrants, largely asylum-seekers, sought shelter in New York City last year.

More than 70% of migrants who have entered the shelter system since spring 2022 have since left. About 57,000 remain at over 200 sites.

Undocumented immigrants fill high-need jobs, have higher poverty rates

The top occupations of undocumented New Yorkers are service and construction jobs. But there are also high numbers of undocumented workers in 12 fast-growing occupations in the state, according to a July report by the Center for Migration Studies. That includes cooks, home health care aides, taxi and delivery drivers, and medical therapy assistants.

“There’s this hidden story that they’re involved in growing advanced economies,” said Russell, executive director of the Center.

Undocumented New Yorkers also have higher rates of poverty — 18% compared to 14% of the state’s overall population— and fewer have health insurance. About three in five undocumented New Yorkers are insured, compared to 95% overall.

Decline in undocumented New Yorkers

The number of undocumented immigrants in New York City was largely on the decline prior to 2022.

The Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, in a report last year, estimated that roughly 412,000 undocumented immigrants lived in the city as of 2022. That's down from 611,000 in 2012.

Queens and Brooklyn are hubs

Queens and Brooklyn are home to the highest share of the city's undocumented community. More than 60% of undocumented residents live in those two boroughs, according to the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs report last year.

Higher rates of overcrowding

Undocumented New Yorkers also face higher rates of overcrowding than other immigrants and residents, according to the mayor’s office report.

Over a third of undocumented New York City residents live in overcrowded households, with more than one person per room, compared to 16% of native-born citizens. Fifteen percent of undocumented New Yorkers are living in extremely crowded households, with more than 1.5 people per room.

English abilities, schooling

The vast majority, 89%, of undocumented immigrants in New York state report that they speak some English, according to center data. And 36% speak English “very well.”

The educational attainment rates for undocumented New Yorkers pale in comparison to other New Yorkers.

Two-thirds of undocumented New Yorkers have received a high school diploma or higher, compared to 88% overall. And half as many undocumented New Yorkers have bachelor's degrees or higher education as the overall New York population: 22% compared to 41%.

Tagged

Asylum Seekers

new york state

Politics

Race And Justice Unit