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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Have most migrants entering the US without legal authorization ended up living in Florida?

Monday, October 11, 2021

By Jacob Alabab-Moser

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The Department of Homeland Security in 2018 estimated that California and Texas were home to the most people lacking legal authorization to live in the U.S., with estimated populations of 2.6 million and 1.9 million people, respectively. Together, these two states’ unauthorized migrant populations represented 40% of the nationwide total. The next leading states were Florida, with about 6% of the total, followed by New York, Illinois and New Jersey.

Unauthorized residents are more concentrated in urban areas than the U.S. population overall, with 61% of the estimated total living in 20 metro areas in 2016. The metropolitan areas with the largest concentrations were New York and Los Angeles.

In Florida, the unauthorized population grew by 110,000—about 20%—between 2015 and 2018. Between 2015 and 2019, Miami was the metropolitan area where immigrants, including those living there both legally and illegally, comprised the largest share of the population.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

US Department of Homeland Security Estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States, 2015-2018

Pew Research Most US unauthorized immigrants live in just 20 metro areas

Migration Policy Institute US immigrant population by metropolitan area

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.