The majority of undocumented immigrants currently living in the US are residing in just 20 large metropolitan areas, a new analysis of data from the US government has revealed. On Thursday, the Pew Research Center released a new report revealing that 65 percent of legal immigrants and 61 percent of undocumented immigrants in the country live in large cities.
The figures are almost twice that of the share of the full population of the US living in those areas. But there is little surprise in the nature of the clustering given the tendency of immigrants to head to places where large immigrant populations are already present and thriving. The highest share of undocumented immigrants lives in New York and Los Angeles, at 1.5 and 1 million respectively, with significant populations also residing in the likes of Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Miami.
California also plays host to another four of the top 20 cities, as well as Los Angeles, with Riverside-San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose also scoring high. Hillary Clinton performed strongly in many urban areas in last year’s Presidential election, while President Donald Trump scored more than her in rural areas.
An August report from the Pew Research Center suggested that 66 percent of those who voted for Trump believe immigration is a huge problem, in contrast to just 17 percent of those who voted for Clinton