Did nearly half of people living illegally in the US enter with valid visas?

Roughly 46% of people living in the U.S. without authorization entered the country with a valid visa, according to data from 2017, the most recent available. 

The remaining 54% of immigrants lacking legal status arrived via “entry without inspection,” or by crossing U.S. borders without authorization.

Most of the people who overstayed their visas initially had temporary visas for tourism or business, or arrived from visa-exempt countries like the United Kingdom or Israel. From 2009 to 2019, visa overstays were the primary source of illegal immigration to the U.S.

The number of residents living in the U.S. illegally declined from 11.3 million in 2011 to 10.3 million in 2021, before rising to roughly 14 million in 2024.

Federal immigration authorities estimated that 1.15% of temporary visa holders, or roughly 539,000 people, overstayed their visas in 2024.