Is it a crime to be in the country illegally?

Here are 7 different ways to be out of status in the U.S.

When asked the last week of January how many of the3,500 migrants or immigrants arrested since Trump took office have criminal records, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “All of them, because they illegally broke our nation’s laws.”

“I know the last administration didn’t see it that way, so it’s a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal, but that’s exactly what they are.”

Prior legislators and White House administrations did make more distinctions. And so does the law.

If a migrant crosses the border illegally, for instance, it can be a misdemeanor or a felony. Overstaying a visa is a different kind of violation. When the term undocumented is used, what does that mean?

While President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have each suggested there are 20-30 million migrants in the country, most demographers put the estimate at half as much — ranging from the 11 million people Pew estimated in 2024, to 14 million estimated by the Center for Immigration Studies and 16.8 million estimated by the Federation for American Immigration Reform in 2023 (the last two organizations both advocate for less immigration).