A new Migration Policy Institute analysis estimates the unauthorized population from Central America rose from about 2.05 million in 2019 to 4.3 million by 2024 despite a multibillion-dollar strategy intended to reduce migration from the region.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The number of unauthorized immigrants from Central America living in the United States more than doubled during the period in which the Biden administration directed billions of dollars toward addressing the conditions it said were driving migration from the region, according to recently published estimates.
An analysis by the Migration Policy Institute found that the unauthorized Central American population increased from approximately 2.05 million in 2019 to 4.3 million by the end of President Joe Biden’s term.
The organization describes itself as nonpartisan, although its publicly listed funders include George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Gates Foundation and organizations such as Maine Equal Justice.
Using the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the institute estimated that the total unauthorized immigrant population reached 15.8 million by mid-2024. That represented a substantial increase from the approximately 11 million people recorded throughout much of the 2010s.
“This increase was driven largely by record border arrivals and expanded Biden-era humanitarian parole programs,” the institute wrote in its analysis.
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The Washington-based organization said the demographic composition of the unauthorized population also changed markedly.
“As the size of the unauthorized immigrant population has increased since 2019, the share of immigrants who are from Central and South America has surged while the Mexican share has shrunk significantly,” the report stated.
Central Americans accounted for approximately 27% of the unauthorized population by 2024, compared with 15% in 2010. Mexico’s share fell below 50% for the first time.
The largest increases among the three Northern Triangle countries occurred in Honduras and Guatemala.
The estimated unauthorized Honduran population rose from 506,000 in 2019 to 1.349 million in 2024. Guatemala’s total increased from 698,000 to 1.525 million, while the unauthorized Salvadoran population climbed from 733,000 to 920,000.
Those increases occurred as the Biden administration implemented its “Root Causes Strategy,” an initiative overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris and designed to reduce migration by improving economic and social conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
The administration committed approximately $4 billion to the program.
Officials said the strategy would reduce incentives to migrate by creating jobs, expanding educational opportunities, strengthening food security and combating human smuggling.
The Biden administration later described the initiative as successful, saying it had produced broad benefits throughout the region.
Customs and Border Protection figures, however, repeatedly showed continued migration from the three countries. The institute’s estimates indicate that the unauthorized population from those nations grew substantially during the same period.
The broader increase was also linked to policies that allowed many migrants encountered at the border to remain in the United States while their cases moved through heavily backlogged immigration courts.
“Growth was further driven by the creation of new humanitarian parole programs that allowed legal entry and temporary stay for migrants from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, as well as those from all around the world who reached northern Mexico and made appointments via the CBP One app to be screened for entry,” the report stated.
The institute also found that significant numbers of Europeans and migrants from other regions entered legally on temporary visas but remained after those visas expired.
The findings place renewed scrutiny on the effectiveness of the Root Causes Strategy and the Biden administration’s wider immigration policies. While the initiative was promoted as a long-term effort to reduce migration by improving conditions abroad, the estimated number of unauthorized immigrants from its three principal target countries rose sharply between 2019 and 2024.
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