Irregular migration
Irregular, unauthorized, or undocumented migration is the practice of crossing an international border without official permission from the authorities. Irregular migration is not synonymous with illegal immigration because irregular travel in order to seek asylum is not a crime.[1][2][3] According to the European Commission, "the term 'illegal migration' should be avoided, as most irregular migrants are not criminals. Being in a country without the required papers is, in most countries, not a criminal offence but an administrative infringement".[4] In 1993, the UK House of Lords ruled that an asylum seeker who had forged papers in order to enter the UK had not entered the country illegally.[5]
List
[edit]| Rank | Metropolitan area | Country | Estimated irregular
migrant population |
Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York metropolitan area |  United States |
1,100,000 | 2016 | Pew Research Center. |
| 2 | Metropolitan Lima |  Peru |
1,000,000 | 2025 | Reuters; National Superintendency of Migration. |
| 3 | Los Angeles metropolitan area | United States |
925,000 | 2016 | Pew Research Center. |
| 4 | Madrid metropolitan area |  Spain |
700,000 | 2026 | Reuters. |
| 5 | Greater London |  United Kingdom |
390,000–585,000 | 2017 | Pew Research Center. |
| 6 | Johannesburg metropolitan area |  South Africa |
500,000 | 2026 | Associated Press. |
| 7 | Santiago metropolitan area |  Chile |
300,000 | 2023 | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. |
| 8 | Chicago metropolitan area | United States |
180,000 | 2019 | Migration Policy Institute. |
| 9 | Houston metropolitan area | United States |
175,000 | 2019 | Migration Policy Institute. |
| 10 | Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex | United States |
170,000 | 2019 | Migration Policy Institute. |
| 11 | Miami metropolitan area | United States |
150,000 | 2019 | Migration Policy Institute. |
| 12 | Paris metropolitan area |  France |
150,000 | 2017 | Pew Research Center. |
| 13 | Milan metropolitan area |  Italy |
120,000 | 2017 | Pew Research Center. |
| 14 | Greater Toronto Area |  Canada |
100,000 | 2024 | Government of Canada. |
| 15 | Athens metropolitan area |  Greece |
100,000 | 2017 | Pew Research Center. |
References
[edit]- ↑ Yamamoto, Ryoko (2007). "Crossing Boundaries: Legality and the Power of the State in Unauthorized Migration: Legality and the Power of the State in Unauthorized Migration". Sociology Compass. 1 (1): 95–110. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00027.x.
- ↑ "Irregular migration in the UK" (PDF). Institute for Public Policy Research. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-02-10.
- ↑ "Is it legal to cross the U.S. border to seek asylum?". International Rescue Committee (IRC). 1 March 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ↑ "irregular migration". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ↑ FitzGerald, David Scott (2019). Refuge beyond Reach: How Rich Democracies Repel Asylum Seekers. Oxford University Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-19-087417-9.
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