MIAMI — The number of unauthorized immigrants living in Florida exploded between 2021 and 2023, growing more than any other any state, according to a recently published report.

The Pew Research Center found that the Sunshine State’s population of unauthorized immigrants — a broad definition that ranges from people with no status to those with some deportation protections — ballooned from 900,000 to 1.6 million over the two years. After California and Texas, Florida is the state with the third-largest unauthorized immigrant population.

The numbers reflect how federal government policies can shape immigrant populations in the United States. President Joe Biden expanded deportation protections and work permits for Haitians, Venezuelans and others already in the United States through Temporary Protected Status. He also created a parole pathway for Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans and Haitians to legally live and work here.

Overall, the United States had 14 million unauthorized immigrants in 2023, the highest number ever, according to Pew. About 40% of them — or 6 million people — had some deportation protections in 2023, the report found. That includes asylum seekers and recipients of Temporary Protected Status.

“That overall growth was mostly due to the arrival of immigrants with some protections from deportation, including people who had been vetted and invited to emigrate,” said Stephanie Kramer, a senior researcher at Pew and one of the report’s authors. She described the increase of 3.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States from 2021 to 2023 as “unprecedented.”

The report found that among the nationalities driving the growth were Cubans and Venezuelans. For Cubans, the number increased from 5,000 in 2019 to 475,000 in 2023. For Venezuelans, that increase went from 195,000 in 2021 to 650,000 in 2023.

But when the Biden administration moved to restrict asylum, the boom of unauthorized immigrants tapered off in the last six months of 2024, according to preliminary government data.

Using those initial numbers, the Pew Center found that the overall immigrant population reached a record high of 53.3 million in January of this year, but dropped by over 1 million people over the following six months. That decrease also coincided with President Donald Trump ending the parole processes and cancelling Temporary Protected Status for several countries.

“There haven’t been a lot of removals in this fiscal year compared with the last one. But the climate has changed. People have different considerations and different protections that they had six months ago,” said Kramer.

The Pew Center report notes that, as of mid-2025, the unauthorized immigrant population remains above 2023 levels. However, researchers are waiting for complete data for this year.

Kramer noted that the decline could have an outsize effect in states like Florida, which received many of the immigrants who came under the Biden-era programs for Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti. Pew estimates that nearly one in 10 workers in Florida’s workforce is unauthorized.

Amid Trump’s immigration crackdown, Pew found that the U.S. immigrant population is declining in 2025, the first time that has happened since the 1960s. Kramer, who is also a demographer, noted that this could constitute a turning point as birth rates continue to drop.

“The overall population is not in decline quite yet. But without immigration, it could be soon.“

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