Immigration policies introduced during the Biden administration have given rise to more migrants being able to work and live in the U.S. without fear of deportation, but without any clear route to becoming a permanent resident.

A new report on the United States' estimated 11.3 million unauthorized migrant population, from the Migration Policy Institute, showed that around 1.5 million people had been granted so-called "twilight" status.

That means some new arrivals and those who have been living in the U.S. for years are now able to officially work, while others waiting for visas do not have to fear leaving loved ones behind.

"We know people work regardless, but having work authorization allows people to work above ground to better capitalize on their skills and education," Julia Galett, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at MPI, told Newsweek.

More migrants protected under Biden

The report also showed a shift in the nationalities making up the unauthorized immigrant population, with an ongoing downward trend of those from Mexico, and others from countries like Venezuela and China seeing marginal increases.

The MPI's report showed that Biden's expansion of the Temporary Protected Status program to people from Afghanistan, Haiti, Ukraine, and Venezuela, as well as Cuba, Haiti and Mexico in recent months, had opened up opportunities for around 1 million people.

A recent change to allow "parole in place" has also given protected status to half a million unauthorized immigrants married to U.S. citizens.

"It used to be that people came without any kind of status and they were hiding and maybe they had strong social service needs, but they weren't presenting them to their cities that they were arriving in," Galett said.

"Now people feel comfortable asking for help when they need it because they've been processed, they know that they're allowed to stay, either pending their removal proceedings or, you know, because they have parole or something like that."

Venezuela climbs top 10 list of unauthorized migrants

As of mid-2022 – the most recent data available – the country's unauthorized migrant population was estimated to be 11.3 million, up by around 100,000 from the year before.

The figures may add fuel to Republican claims that immigration is running unchecked, with the party's 2024 platform promising mass deportation and tougher measures at the southwest border.

While recent trends of higher southwest border crossings were not reflected in the statistics, the MPI said it was important to look at those heading in the opposite direction.

"I think that people lose track of the fact that people also exit the unauthorized immigrant population," Galett added. "They get deported, they leave voluntarily, they die, they get legal status in the United States, there's various ways that people exit the population and some of some of the longer term unauthorized immigrants may be retiring abroad."

The MPI said that Mexicans make up the largest share of that number, but the unauthorized population has been steadily trending downwards since around 2008.

Venezuelans are now making up a larger proportion of the total, climbing up the top ten list of nationalities, while Chinese and Indian nationals also make up 2% and 3%, respectively.

Many migrants left waiting in limbo

As border crossings increased over the past two years, Republicans have claimed that illegal immigrants are coming from all over the world at a rate never before seen. While the MPI's data appears to back that up to a degree, Galett said this was not just a border story.

"Some of those folks entered the country without authorization through the border," she told Newsweek. "But others overstayed legal visas.

"So especially the East Asian, South Asian unauthorized immigrants, they may have initially come legally, whether on a tourist visa, student visa, work visa, and then stayed in the country after the period of authorization for that visa."

A big issue for many of those categorized as an unauthorized immigrant is the difficult or even non-existent path to full legal status or citizenship, Galett said.

While some have relatives who might be able to sponsor them, they would likely have to leave the country for a decade before being granted legal status.

The "parole in place" tactic announced by President Biden has done away with that, in part, but Galett said others will simply leave anyway because they are tired of waiting on the U.S. immigration system.

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