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Immigration reform can keep millions of mixed-status families together

Nearly 5.5 million U.S. citizen children under age 18 live with at least one undocumented household member."

Nearly four decades after Congress last passed meaningful and positive immigration reform, more mixed-status families than ever face uncertainty about whether they could be separated from their family members and loved ones. Providing a pathway to citizenship for family members, particularly for undocumented spouses and undocumented parents, would bring important economic benefits, certainty to employers, and most importantly, certitude for millions of American families.

With some 11.3 million U.S. citizens living in mixed-status households, they are looking to Congress to provide their families a long-overdue chance at fairness, certainty, and a brighter future in the country they call home. A mixed-status household has at least one undocumented person (including those with protections such as Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) living with at least one non-undocumented person (including a U.S. citizen, green card holder, or other lawful temporary immigrant). In all, FWD.us estimates nearly 22 million people, or 1 in every 15 U.S. residents, live in a mixed-status household.1

Note: Undocumented immigrants include those with protections such as asylum seekers, DACA recipients, TPS holders, etc. Rounded to 10,000.
Source: FWD.us estimates based on 2022 American Community Survey data, including demographic projections through September 30, 2023 to reflect recent immigration. Total population estimates for calculating percentages are drawn from U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 vintage population estimates by state. See our methodology: fwd.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Methodology-ACS-2022-immigrant-assignment.pdf

Nearly 5.5 million U.S. citizen children under age 18 live with at least one undocumented household member. In fact, nearly 1 in 10 (8%) of U.S. citizen children in the U.S. live in a mixed-status family. 

 

Note: Undocumented immigrants include those with protections such as asylum seekers, DACA recipients, TPS holders, etc. Rounded to 10,000.
Source: FWD.us estimates based on 2022 American Community Survey data, including demographic projections through September 30, 2023 to reflect recent immigration. Total population estimates for calculating percentages are drawn from U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 vintage population estimates by state. See our methodology: fwd.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Methodology-ACS-2022-immigrant-assignment.pdf

At the same time, more than 5.8 million U.S. citizen adults live with at least one undocumented immigrant in their household. Nearly two-thirds of these adults (64%) are Gen Z or Millennials, born 1981 or later. More than 1.1 million U.S. citizen adults have a spouse who is undocumented.

 

Note: Undocumented immigrants include those with protections such as asylum seekers, DACA recipients, TPS holders, etc. Rounded to 10,000.
Source: FWD.us estimates based on 2022 American Community Survey data, including demographic projections through September 30, 2023 to reflect recent immigration. Total population estimates for calculating percentages are drawn from U.S. Census Bureau's 2022 vintage population estimates by state. See our methodology: fwd.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Methodology-ACS-2022-immigrant-assignment.pdf

Fixing our failed immigration system is personal for millions of Americans living in mixed-status families."

California, Texas, Florida, and New York have some of the highest numbers of individuals living in mixed-status households; more than half (52%) of individuals in mixed-status households live in these four states. And, some 10% or more of all residents in each of these four states – California, Nevada, New Jersey, and Texas – live in a mixed-status household.

Even as Congress has maintained family unity as a core principle in immigration policy for decades, many undocumented spouses and parents of U.S. citizens cannot adjust their status to become green card holders due to inadmissibility bars. These limitations of current immigration law force families to remain in mixed status families, living under the threat of separation, and forcing loved ones to live with the constant anxiety that their mom, dad, sister, brother, wife, or husband could be deported at a moment’s notice.

Fixing our failed immigration system is personal for millions of Americans living in mixed-status families. With millions of U.S. citizens living daily with uncertainty over whether they may be separated from their families, it is well past time for Congress to deliver relief, and the administration to do whatever it can to protect them.

Phillip Connor

Senior Demographer

Notes

  1. See our 2023 immigrant population methodology for more information on how we assigned immigration status to respondents to the 2022 American Community Survey.
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