E.g., 04/17/2024
E.g., 04/17/2024
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
March 2007
By  Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix and Julie Murray
Articles
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Fact Sheets
November 2006
By  Jeanne Batalova
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Fact Sheets
October 2006
By  Julia Gelatt and Deborah W. Meyers
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The U.S. federal government has spread immigration-related responsibilities among six agencies. MPI’s Megan Davy, Deborah Meyers, and Jeanne Batalova explain which agencies handle such tasks as assisting refugees, issuing visas, and handling interior enforcement.
According to the 2000 census, more than 150,000 foreign born lived in the counties affected by Hurricane Katrina. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at the foreign-born population in the areas hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
About one in 10 U.S. immigrants is self-employed. MPI’s Jeanne Batalova and David Dixon explore the importance and dimensions of this phenomenon.

The European born are more likely to be proficient in English, work in higher-level occupations, and have higher earnings than the overall foreign-born population. MPI's David Dixon examines the social and economic profiles of the foreign born from Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Europe.

The importance of knowledge, skills, and technologies in post-industrial economies has beckoned well-educated migrants to the United States. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at the foreign born with a bachelor's degree or higher.

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Recent Activity

Articles

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.

Reports
March 2007

This report provides a demographic profile of adolescent limited English proficient students in the United States, examines how these students are faring on standardized tests, and breaks down the assessment data further for a comparison of 6th to 8th grade LEP students California, Colorado, Illinois, and North Carolina.

Articles

In 2005, 15 percent of all U.S. health-care workers were foreign born. MPI's Esha Clearfield and Jeanne Batalova report.

Articles

Latin America and the Caribbean account for the largest percentage of the foreign born in the armed forces. MPI's Laura Barker and Jeanne Batalova report.

Articles

The United States' education system has been a major educational destination for foreign students for decades. MPI’s Jeanne Batalova describes the foreign student and exchange visitor population in the United States and highlights recent policy developments affecting them.

Fact Sheets
November 2006

This fact sheet examines demographic and labor market characteristics of Mexican-born workers in the United States and compares them to those of all foreign-born as well as native-born U.S. workers. The report focuses on workers age 16 and over who participated in the U.S. civilian labor force in 2006.

Articles
Members of the second generation are more likely to finish college than both the foreign born and those who are third generation and higher. David Dixon looks at general social and demographic characteristics of the second generation in the United States.
Fact Sheets
October 2006

This report provides an overview of immigration to the United States based on Fiscal Year 2005 data released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics in 2006.

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