Denver ranks among the 20 U.S. metro areas with the largest numbers of people living in the country illegally, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

The Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area was home to an estimated 130,000 unauthorized immigrants, ranking No. 17, with 55,000 living in Denver alone, according to the report.

The Pew study found that most of the 11.1 million people living in the United States illegally are concentrated in metropolitan statistical areas, with the largest populations in New York, Los Angeles and Houston. In all, 61 percent live in just 20 U.S. metro areas, including Denver.

The Pew Center’s analysis relied on data from the Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey. The center defined unauthorized immigrants to include people who either crossed the border illegally or overstayed their visas.

The number of immigrants living illegally in Denver’s city limits outnumbered those in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Seattle, the report said. It had the same number as Miami.

In Denver, those living here illegally made up 37 percent of all foreign-born residents, the Pew Study found. That percentage was higher-than-average for the entire United States where one in four foreign-born residents is here illegally.

Typically, people who are in the country illegally move to locations where other immigrants live, the report said.

Immigrants living illegally in the U.S. and the cities they call home have been targeted by President Donald Trump as so-called sanctuary cities. Trump has signed an executive order that promises to cut federal funds to sanctuary cities.

In 2015, Denver received more than $175 million from federal sources — a big chunk of the city’s total annual budget of about $1.9 billion while Aurora received about $11.5 million in federal funds out of its 2015 budget of roughly $627 million.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has vowed to fight any cuts the city might face because of its large immigrant population. He also has argued that there is no legal definition of “sanctuary city” and, therefore, the executive order is not legally sound.

Police in Denver and Aurora have said they will not enforce federal immigration laws.

Hancock has held multiple news conferences and communities meetings to assure all immigrants are welcome in Denver and that his administration is working to help them. He also recorded a video renewing his vow to welcome everyone.

On Saturday, the mayor will join acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer and Mark Silverstein, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado at an Immigrant & Refugee Forum. The forum will include information on the executive orders, immigrants’ rights and resources available in the community.

The forum will begin at noon at Place Bridge Academy, 7125 Cherry Creek North Drive, Denver.