E.g., 04/20/2024
E.g., 04/20/2024
U.S. Data

U.S. Data

Immigration_History

More than 43 million people living in the United States—whether as naturalized citizen, legal permanent resident, temporary resident, or unauthorized immigrant—were born in another country, representing 13 percent of the U.S. population. Immigration has ebbed and flowed throughout U.S. history, peaking at nearly 15 percent of the population in 1890 and plummeting to 5 percent in 1970. The data-rich research offered here traces the U.S. immigrant population by size, educational and workforce characteristics, English language proficiency, and more.

For information on U.S. immigrants by state, check out the State Immigration Data Profiles tool. And for detailed profiles on unauthorized immigrants nationally and by state, visit this tool.

Recent Activity

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Reports
June 2009
By  Michael Fix and Margie McHugh
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Reports
June 2009
By  Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Madeleine Sumption and Will Somerville
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In 2006, the U.S. admitted more than 41,000 refugees for resettlement and granted asylum to more than 26,000 people. MPI's Kelly O'Donnell and Jeanne Batalova take a detailed look at refugee and asylum statistics in the United States.

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Nearly 1.3 million individuals became lawful permanent residents of the United States in 2006. MPI's Gretchen Reinemeyer and Jeanne Batalova look at the latest statistics on legal immigration.

Of the 15.36 million union members in 2006, 12 percent were foreign born. MPI's Chuncui Velma Fan and Jeanne Batalova examine the data on immigrants and labor unions from 1996 to 2006.

Over half of the foreign born in the United States in 2005 arrived in 1990 or later. MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Aaron Terrazas look at the countries of origin, education levels, occupations, and other characteristics of newer immigrants.

In 2005, U.S. immigration officials detained nearly a quarter of a million individuals. MPI's Dawn Konet and Jeanne Batalova look at the most recent data on apprehensions, detentions, and removals.

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Recent Activity

Articles

More than 1.1 million persons became legal permanent residents (LPRs) in the United States in 2008. Nearly two-thirds of new LPRs are immigrants with family ties in the United States, reports MPI's Jeanne Batalova in this updated look at the latest statistics on legal immigration.

Reports
June 2009

This report explores the fundamental question of how successful integration and immigrant social mobility is in Europe and North America. The authors examine the economic performance and rate of labor market assimilation for first and second generation immigrants, and outline what policymakers can do to promote the social mobility and integration of immigrants and their children.

 

Reports
June 2009

The discussion guide offers a brief demographic and statistical profile of the immigrant student population in the United States, with comparison points drawn to Germany, sketches the broad policy implications of the demographic data, and provides a set of policy and practice issues in immigrant education and integration to facilitate a Roundtable inquiry in two areas: early childhood care and education, and secondary education.

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The 4.5 million older immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for 12 percent of all senior citizens age 65 and older. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines the socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, their health and disability status, and their sources of income.

Books
May, 2009

This book reflects the effort of the Transatlantic Council on Migration to map how profound demographic change is likely to affect the size and character of global migration flows; and how governments can shape immigration policy in a world increasingly attuned to the hunt for talent.

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The middle class has received considerable attention during the current economic crisis. About 15 million people resided in middle-class immigrant households in 2007, and three-quarters of all children in such households were native-born U.S. citizens. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines where the heads of middle-class immigrant households are from, when they arrived in the United States, their occupations, and other characteristics.

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The 102,000 Iraqi immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for just 0.3 percent of all U.S. immigrants. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the category of admission of the Iraqi-born immigrant population.

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The 1.4 million African immigrants residing in the United States in 2007 accounted for 3.7 percent of all U.S. immigrants. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the category of admission of the African-born immigrant population.

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