Legal Immigration to United States Up from Last Year

Legal immigration to the United States rose by 34 percent between fiscal years (FY) 2003 and 2004, largely due to adjustments of status by immigrants already present in the United States.

This fact sheet reviews data released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which show that in FY 2004:

• The level of newly arriving legal permanent residents remained relatively steady, even as adjustments of status by immigrants already in the United States rose 68 percent.
• Refugee admissions recovered significantly, but remained below pre-9/11 levels.
• The level of temporary visitors rebounded to near pre-9/11 levels.
• Naturalizations increased by 16 percent.