Nearly 1 in 5 Immigrants in US Illegally in NYC, LA Areas

Mexican immigrants walk in line through the Arizona desert near Sasabe, Sonora State, in an attempt to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, on April 6, 2006. (Omar Torres/AFP/Getty Images)

SANTA ANA, Calif.—A report shows nearly one in five immigrants in the U.S. illegally live in the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.

The report released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center estimates more than 2 million immigrants in the country illegally lived in the two areas in 2014.

Pew says the country has about 11.1 million immigrants who do not have legal status.

The report also estimates more than a third of the immigrant population in the Houston, Dallas, Denver and Phoenix metropolitan areas lacked legal papers.

The report comes as President Trump tries to boost ties with local law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal immigration.

Many large cities including New York and Los Angeles have pushed back and pledged to help protect immigrants from deportation.