Recent Immigrant Children: A Profile of New Arrivals to U.S. Schools
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Highlights
In 2021, about 990,000 public school students had less than three years of U.S. residence. Many arrived with limited education, little to no English proficiency, and trauma.
- The U.S. Department of Education counted roughly 990,000 recently arrived immigrant students in 2020–21, down from a pre-pandemic high of 1.2 million, with three-quarters also classified as English Learners (ELs).
- In 2021, MPI analysis shows half of recent immigrant children were Latino and about half spoke Spanish at home. Top origin countries included Mexico (13 percent), Honduras (9 percent), and Guatemala (8 percent).
- Recent immigrant youth are more likely to live in low-income, linguistically isolated households and less likely to have a parent who completed high school.
A variety of migration trends over the last decade have raised the profile of recently arrived immigrant children as a distinct population in U.S. schools, one with unique characteristics and educational needs. This includes the sharp increase in the number of unaccompanied Central American minors arriving in the United States since the mid-2010s. At the same time, recent immigrant students are a highly diverse population and also include, for example, children of high-skilled workers and resettled refugees.
Data on recently arrived immigrant children and youth are relatively difficult to access, in part because school systems tend to focus on immigrant-background students through the lens of their English proficiency level. Yet the dearth of information on immigrant students as a distinct group can hinder educators’ and policymakers’ efforts to improve instruction and services for new arrivals.
This fact sheet analyzes data from the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Census Bureau to illuminate the characteristics of recently arrived immigrant children, compared to longer-residing immigrant children, native-born children of immigrants, and U.S.-born children with U.S.-born parents. It considers topics such as their geographic distribution, language use, and school enrollment and completion, as well as characteristics of the households in which they live.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 U.S. Department of Education Data on Immigrant Students
3 Census Bureau Counts by Age, Recency of Arrival, and State
4 Demographic Characteristics of Immigrant Children
5 Household Characteristics of Immigrant Children
6 School Enrollment and High School Completion
7 Conclusion
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
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