Demographics

The U.S. Industries That Rely Most on Illegal Immigration

Published

2 months ago

November 23, 2024

Bruno Venditti

Graphics/Design:

Sam Parker

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Top U.S. Industries Relying on Illegal Immigration

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Mass deportation could remove one in eight workers from the construction and agriculture industries in the United States. In the hospitality sector, about one in 14 workers could face deportation due to their undocumented status.

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to begin mass deportations within 24 hours of taking office on January 20.

This graphic highlights the top industries employing undocumented immigrant workers, along with their share of each industry’s workforce. The data comes from the American Immigration Council, as of 2022.

Over Six Million Undocumented Workers

The U.S. is estimated to have over six million undocumented workers across various industries.

Construction has the highest concentration of undocumented workers, who make up 13.7% of its workforce.

Industry	Illegal Immigrant Workers	Share of Workforce
1. Construction	1,544,600	13.7%
2. Agriculture	244,700	12.7%
3. Hospitality	1,002,200	7.1%
4. General Services	500,800	6.5%
5. Wholesale Trade	193,400	5.5%
6. Transportation and Warehousing	460,500	5.5%
7. Manufacturing	870,400	5.4%
8. Professional Services	970,800	4.7%
9. Retail Trade	708,500	3.9%
10. Mining and Extraction	22,100	3.6%

Agriculture relies heavily on undocumented labor, with these workers constituting 12.7% of its labor force.

Hospitality employs over one million undocumented immigrants, representing 7.1% of its workforce.

Undocumented Immigrants’ Contributions

California, Texas, and Florida are home to 47% of the nation’s undocumented immigrants.

In 2022 alone, undocumented immigrant households contributed significantly to the U.S. economy:

Federal taxes: $46.8 billion
State and local taxes: $29.3 billion
Social Security contributions: $22.6 billion
Medicare contributions: $5.7 billion

Additionally, about 5.1 million U.S. citizen children live with an undocumented family member.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic that shows the estimated costs of deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.