Georgia Ranked Sixth in Unauthorized Immigrant Population in the U.S.

(GEORGIA, UNITED STATES) A new study has found that Georgia now has the 6th highest unauthorized immigrant population in the United States, marking a sharp rise for a state that once sat far outside the country’s main immigration hubs. The report, drawing on data through 2023 with trends projected into 2025, shows that while traditional gateway states like California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois still hold the largest numbers, Georgia has moved close behind them as migrant families and workers spread into new parts of the country.

National totals and trends

Researchers say the total unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S. reached about 14 million in 2023, the highest level ever recorded, with growth continuing into 2025. For years, over half of that total was concentrated in just six states. Now, however, people without legal status are moving in larger numbers to states such as Georgia, drawn by jobs, lower living costs, and growing immigrant networks that reach far beyond the big coastal cities.

Key takeaway: The unauthorized population is both larger than ever and spreading geographically, reshaping where immigrants settle across the United States 🇺🇸.

States with large increases

Georgia is part of a group of eight states that each saw an increase of at least 75,000 unauthorized residents between 2021 and 2023. That group includes:

• Georgia
• New Jersey
• Illinois
• North Carolina
• Massachusetts
• Pennsylvania
• Maryland
• Ohio

This shift, analysts say, helps explain how Georgia’s ranking climbed until its unauthorized immigrant population became the 6th highest in the country. According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, these changes point to a wider reshaping of settlement patterns for both documented and undocumented immigrants.

Border context and national pressure

While the study highlights Georgia’s rising numbers, it also places them in a national setting marked by heavy pressure at the border. Between 2019 and 2024, U.S. border officers recorded about 11 million encounters with migrants—a figure that roughly matches Georgia’s entire population.

Federal data from the Department of Homeland Security show that not everyone stopped at the border enters or stays in the country, but the sheer volume of encounters has fueled political debate and has clear effects on states that receive new arrivals. (Source: Department of Homeland Security)

Who are Georgia’s unauthorized residents?

Georgia’s story is not only about counts, but also about demographics and origins. A 2019 profile by the Migration Policy Institute—still one of the most detailed breakdowns available—showed that Georgia’s unauthorized residents come from many parts of the world, not just Latin America. At that time, the breakdown included:

• 11% from South America
• 6% from Asia
• 5% from Europe, Canada, or Oceania
• 4% from Africa

These figures paint a picture of a diverse and changing community spread across the state’s cities, suburbs, and rural counties.

Local impacts: communities, services, and economy

Those demographic patterns help explain why local schools, clinics, and employers in Georgia report working with families who speak a wide range of languages and bring different cultural backgrounds. Specific community patterns include:

• Many unauthorized immigrants are long-term residents with U.S.-born children and mixed-status households.
• Some have deep ties to churches, workplaces, and neighborhoods.
• Others have arrived more recently, often after crossing the border and moving inland with help from social networks.

Common employment sectors for recent arrivals include:

• Construction
• Food processing
• Hospitality
• Agriculture

Advocates and business groups respond differently to these trends:

• Advocates call for clearer federal pathways to legal status, especially for long-term residents.
• Business groups warn that sudden enforcement crackdowns could hurt parts of Georgia’s economy that rely on workers without legal papers.

Political and policy challenges

Officials in Georgia now face the practical challenge of planning for this reality while federal policy remains deeply divided. State and local leaders must balance:

• Public pressure for stronger enforcement
• Practical questions about schooling, health care access, and labor needs—especially in fast-growing metro areas like Atlanta

Because immigration law is mainly a federal matter, Georgia’s options are limited. Still, the rise to the 6th highest position in terms of unauthorized immigrant population is likely to keep the issue near the center of state politics.

Broader shifts since the 1990s

The new findings also underline how much the map of immigration has changed since the 1990s and early 2000s, when a few coastal states dominated public debate. As people moved to the South and Midwest, states like Georgia saw their foreign-born populations—both lawful and unlawful—grow faster than the national average.

Analysts note:

• This geographic spread may reduce pressure on schools and services in some traditional gateway cities.
• But it also means places with less experience handling immigration issues must adjust quickly.

Looking ahead

Federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, have not yet released detailed state-by-state data for 2025, but experts say the broad direction is clear: Georgia is no longer on the sidelines of the national immigration story.

For unauthorized immigrants already in Georgia, the study’s numbers do not change their daily legal situation, but they may change public attention. Growing media focus on the state’s ranking and role in the wider migration picture could bring more scrutiny from both federal and state authorities, even as local communities continue to depend on their work and presence.

As the unauthorized immigrant population of Georgia climbs and the state holds the 6th highest spot in national rankings, the human stories behind the statistics are likely to become even more central to policy debates in Atlanta and Washington.