Primary study
KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation)
KFF/New York Times 2025 Survey of Immigrants: Worries and Experiences Amid Increased Immigration Enforcement
Cited in 2 Likelier entries (1 risk, 1 decision).
Used in 3 entries
For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.
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14% of immigrant adults overall and 48% of likely undocumented immigrants report they or a family member avoided seeking medical care since Jan 2025 due to immigration concerns; 51% (78% of likely undocumented) concerned health officials share data with ICE. N=1,805, MOE ±3pp full sample, ±10pp likely-undocumented (unweighted N=151).
“Nearly half (48%) of likely undocumented immigrants and 14% of immigrant adults overall say they or a family member have avoided seeking medical care since January 2025 due to immigration-related concerns.”
Calculation notes
Headline native = 14 per 100 immigrant adults (full sample). normalized.lifetime_us_adult = 0.14, log10 = -0.854. Uncertainty 0.11–0.17 = 14% ± 3pp full-sample MOE (per KFF methodology: 'The margin of sampling error including the design effect for the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points'). Multiplier 48/14 = 3.43 for likely-undocumented subgroup (subgroup MOE ±10pp, unweighted N=151). Perceived = 51% overall / 78% undocumented concerned about data sharing. Survey fielded Aug 28–Oct 20, 2025.
Independence note: KFF publishes this survey across multiple report pages (worries/enforcement page, health-experiences page, topline PDF); these are ONE survey from ONE publisher (KFF/NYT), not independent corroboration. Counts as a single authoritative source.
Source date: 2025-11-13 · Accessed: 2026-06-13
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- Statistic
75% of likely undocumented immigrants worry about detention or deportation; 77% report negative health impacts from immigration-related worries; 56% say they would still move to the US if they could go back in time (down from 72% in 2023), implying 44% would not
“"Four in ten (41%) immigrants say they personally worry they or a family member could be detained or deported, with worries most pronounced among likely undocumented immigrants (75%). Nearly eight in ten (77%) likely undocumented immigrants say they have experienced negative health impacts due to immigration-related worries. 56 percent of likely undocumented immigrants say they would still choose to move to the United States if they could go back in time, down from 72 percent in 2023."”
Calculation notes
KFF/NYT survey conducted August 28 – October 20, 2025, n = 1,805 immigrant adults, nationally representative probability-based sample, with oversampling of likely undocumented immigrants (n ~300-400 subgroup). The action regret proxy uses the complement of the "would still move" rate: if 56% of likely undocumented immigrants say they would make the same choice again, then 44% implicitly would not — a measure of expressed decision regret about coming (and by extension, staying). This is the most direct measure of retrospective regret found in the published literature for this population. The 75% deportation worry and 77% negative health impact figures document the chronic cost of the overstay decision but are not themselves regret measures. The survey was conducted during a period of heightened enforcement (Trump second term), which may increase the measured regret rate relative to baseline years. The drop from 72% to 56% in "would still move" between 2023 and 2025 suggests the enforcement context significantly modulates the expressed regret.
Source date: 2025-11-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-09
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- Statistic
Among all immigrants surveyed, overwhelming majorities say their lives are better in the US than they would have been in their origin country; 63% of all immigrants say they would still move to the US, reflecting the strong pull factor for those who left their home countries
“"Immigrants overwhelmingly say their lives are better in the United States than they would have been in their country of origin. 63 percent of all immigrants say they would still choose to move to the United States if they could go back in time. Among likely undocumented immigrants specifically, 56 percent say they would still move — a decline from 72 percent in 2023."”
Calculation notes
The inaction regret proxy (those who left on time but wish they had stayed) is the hardest side to anchor empirically. No published survey specifically asks people who left the US upon visa expiration whether they regret having done so. The 0.35 rate is a conservative inference: if 63% of all immigrants say their lives are better in the US, and if the median economic opportunity differential between the US and origin countries is large and persistent, then among those who left, a substantial fraction likely perceive they foregone a better life. The 35% proxy is consistent with migration literature finding that roughly one-third of return migrants describe their return as involuntary or regretted in qualitative research (Cassarino 2004, Cerase 1974 models of return migration). This is a weaker anchor than the action side and should be read as a directional estimate only.
Source date: 2025-11-01 · Accessed: 2026-05-09
Also cited in these entries
HealthDirect
Skipping care over ICE fear
How likely is an immigrant adult in the US to avoid needed medical care because of immigration-enforcement fear?