Where Did 4.5 Million Illegal Aliens, Who Arrived Under Joe Biden, End Up Staying in the U.S.?

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Pew Research Center data, Border Patrol recorded about 7.7 million encounters at the U.S.–Mexico border between Fiscal Years 2021 and 2025. Those numbers include illegals who were captured more than once and people who were immediately expelled.

Estimates of the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population, meaning the total number of illegal aliens who live in the country, grew by roughly five million people between 2019 and 2024 (reaching a peak population of 15.8 million in mid-2024). There were also an estimated 2 million "gotaways" who entered the country illegally between 2021 and 2024 and were never apprehended or detected.

Where did those five million people end up living?

"An analysis of federal records obtained by The Associated Press traces the self-reported destinations of 4.5 million migrants released into the United States after crossing the Mexican border between October 2018 and July 2025," reports the Daily Wire. "The records show illegal immigrants from around the world dispersing far beyond communities along the southern border, reaching major cities, suburbs, and smaller communities with relatively low immigrant populations."

None of those communities requested this massive influx. Most were ill-prepared for the sudden population increase. The strain on many communities' services and infrastructure was severe; in many cases, they broke under the strain.

The illegals were from 150 countries, according to the AP report, and "Venezuelans and Cubans accounted for the largest numbers of migrants in the data, with roughly 773,000 and 539,000 arrivals, respectively."

 Other Latin American countries that sent us significant influxes of citizens included Mexico, Colombia, and Honduras.

Daily Wire:

The Biden-era surge extended well beyond Latin America, with migrants from India, Africa and the Middle East also flooding into communities across the American heartland.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, for example, large numbers of migrants came from West Africa, Uzbekistan, and India, according to AP. Columbus, Ohio, also saw a significant influx of these migrants, followed by Chicago and the New York City metropolitan area.

California’s Silicon Valley saw a surge of Indian migrants. Haitian migrants, now at the center of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, largely settled in South Florida, Indianapolis, Boston, and New York City, the data shows.

The suburbs south of Salt Lake City attracted huge numbers of Venezuelans, who made up the largest share of migrants released during the seven years.

Most of the new arrivals came to those communities because they had relatives in them or there was already an established community of migrants from their country. 

"More than 40% of migrants released after crossing the border were military-age men, according to the data," reports the Daily Wire. That may be true, but military service in those countries would improve living conditions for most of those men. This was a purely economic migration. The idea that five million people were in danger of being murdered by gangs or threatened by an abusive spouse is ludicrous.

Cincinnati, for example, saw many arrivals from West Africa, Uzbekistan, and India. India is one of the richest developing countries in the world and features a fast-growing economy and educated population. Indians are one of the biggest legal immigration success stories in America. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made 50,925 arrests in August, according to information the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shared with The Daily Wire. "August marked the third straight month of record arrests for ICE and the highest monthly total in the agency’s history," according to DW. "The agency made 50,208 arrests in July and roughly 43,000 arrests in June."

With 15 million illegal aliens living in the U.S., ICE has a long way to go.

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Editor’s Note: Republicans are fighting for election integrity by requiring proper identification to vote. It's common sense, yet Democrats are spreading lies about the impact of such a measure. 

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