Georgia News

147,000 migrants crossed the border bound for Ga. These were top destinations.

The Associated Press obtained and released the data, which migrants self-report at the time of processing. Georgia was the 7th most popular destination.
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A U.S. soldier watches the southern border from a high vantage point near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on April 12, 2025. Georgia was the seventh most popular destination in the country for migrants who made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border amid an unprecedented surge in arrivals. (Adriana Zehbrauskas/The New York Times)
A U.S. soldier watches the southern border from a high vantage point near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on April 12, 2025. Georgia was the seventh most popular destination in the country for migrants who made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border amid an unprecedented surge in arrivals. (Adriana Zehbrauskas/The New York Times)
Lautaro Grinspan
By
1 hour ago

In recent years, more than 147,000 migrants indicated they were headed to Georgia when processed by federal authorities at the southern border and released into the U.S.

The numbers, covering both legal and illegal border crossings from October 2018 to July 2025, make Georgia the seventh most popular destination in the country for migrants who made their way to the U.S.-Mexico border amid an unprecedented surge in arrivals.

Migrants must provide border officials the street address of their intended residence when they are processed. The Associated Press obtained the data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and subsequently released it publicly.

Although it is unclear whether they settled at the addresses provided, truthful reporting is important for those intending to pursue their cases in immigration court and secure legal status in the country.

In the years since migrants reached their initial destinations within the U.S., they may have moved elsewhere or left the country, including via Immigration and Customs Enforcement removal operations, which have soared since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

A total of 4.5 million immigrants were released in the U.S. in the time window captured in the CBP data set.

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The states that eclipsed Georgia in terms of self-reported destinations are Florida, Texas, California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.

The following nations account for the 10 largest migrant groups who indicated they were headed to Georgia from the southern border.

  1. Venezuela: 42,490 migrants
  2. Mexico: 20,691 migrants
  3. Guatemala: 17,482 migrants
  4. Colombia: 13,059 migrants
  5. Nicaragua: 12,181 migrants
  6. Honduras: 11,995 migrants
  7. Cuba: 5,496 migrants
  8. Peru: 4,313 migrants
  9. Haiti: 3,370 migrants
  10. El Salvador: 2,780 migrants

Those 10 nationalities largely reflect the top sender nations to the U.S. overall from October 2018 to July 2025.

Georgia destinations

Gwinnett County accounts for six of the 10 most popular ZIP codes for border crossers headed to Georgia. Also in the top 10 are ZIP codes in DeKalb and Cobb counties.

The single most popular ZIP code outside of metro Atlanta corresponds to Gainesville, in northeast Georgia.

Initial destinations for the migrants who reported going to Georgia when asked by federal authorities at the southern border are:

  1. Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, 8,877 migrants (30044)
  2. Norcross, Gwinnett County, 7,412 migrants (30093)
  3. Duluth, Gwinnett County, 6,527 migrants (30096)
  4. Atlanta, DeKalb County, 3,346 migrants (30329)
  5. Atlanta, DeKalb County, 2,929 migrants (30340)
  6. Smyrna, Cobb County, 2,593 migrants (30080)
  7. Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, 2,356 migrants (30043)
  8. Atlanta, DeKalb County, 2,318 migrants (30341)
  9. Lilburn, Gwinnett County, 2,264 migrants (30047)
  10. Norcross, Gwinnett County, 2,262 migrants (30071)
  11. Marietta, Cobb County, 2,257 migrants (30067)
  12. Marietta, Cobb County, 2,224 migrants (30060)
  13. Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, 2,101 migrants (30046)
  14. Tucker, DeKalb County, 1,964 migrants (30084)
  15. Gainesville, Hall County, 1,942 migrants (30501)

The AP’s packaging of the federal data allows for analysis that reflects the biggest group of new migrant arrivals across specific ZIP codes. Among Atlanta ZIP codes, Nicaraguans represented the biggest cluster of any given nationality.

Biggest migrant groups in specific Atlanta ZIP codes:

  1. Nicaragua, 1,303 migrants, Atlanta (30329)
  2. Guatemala, 842 migrants, Atlanta (30341)
  3. Venezuela, 760 migrants, Atlanta (30340)
  4. Peru, 687 migrants, Atlanta (30329)
  5. Guatemala, 596 migrants, Atlanta (30340)
  6. Senegal, 487 migrants, Atlanta (30349)
  7. Honduras, 413 migrants, Atlanta (30345)
  8. Nicaragua, 386 migrants, Atlanta (30340)
  9. Venezuela, 374 migrants, Atlanta (30318)
  10. Venezuela, 363 migrants, Atlanta (30350)
  11. Senegal, 355 migrants, Atlanta (30311)
  12. Mexico, 349 migrants, Atlanta (30329)
  13. Venezuela, 349 migrants, Atlanta (30360)
  14. Peru, 348 migrants, Atlanta (30319)
  15. Mexico, 328 migrants, Atlanta (30340)

The numbers also show what different migrant groups’ top destinations within Georgia were, reflecting both where new arrivals spotted opportunity and the location of preexisting Georgia hubs for individuals from specific countries.

The number one ZIP code for Venezuelans, the largest migrant group overall, covers part of Lawrenceville.

All five of the most popular ZIP codes for Brazilians correspond to Marietta, which has the highest concentration of people from that country in Georgia and boasts a wide array of Brazilian restaurants, bakeries and markets.

The single most popular ZIP code for Cubans corresponded to Moultrie in south Georgia, a location relatively close to Florida, which has outsized connections to the island nation.