The number of people living in the United States without full legal status rose to a record 14 million in 2023, according to new estimates from the Pew Research Center. The tally is up 3.5 million in just two years and surpasses the previous high of 12.2 million set in 2007. Pew attributes the surge largely to policy changes after the COVID-19 pandemic that expanded temporary protections—such as humanitarian parole, asylum applications and other relief programs—under which about 6 million migrants were shielded from immediate deportation last year. Those with some form of protection represented more than 40 percent of the unauthorized population. Early, incomplete government data suggest the trend has reversed. The total foreign-born population peaked at 53.3 million in January 2025 but fell to 51.9 million by June, the first sustained drop since the 1960s. Pew’s demographers say tougher border and interior enforcement measures introduced in late 2024 and early 2025, alongside the suspension of several parole programs, likely slowed inflows and accelerated departures, trimming the unauthorized headcount even though it probably remains above the 2023 level. Growth in unauthorized residents was concentrated in Florida, Texas, California and New York, together adding nearly 1.8 million people between 2021 and 2023. Nationally, 9.7 million unauthorized immigrants were in the workforce last year—about 5.6 percent of all U.S. workers—filling jobs heavily in construction, agriculture and hospitality. Economists warn that any prolonged contraction in the immigrant labor pool could exacerbate existing labor shortages and restrain economic growth.