Pew Research has under-reported immigration data in
the past and was off by half when they estimated 11 million illegals and a
university study said it was 22 million. They report 40 million foreign born in
US and I’ve seen 60 million reported by others. They continue to site 2016
data. See below: Key findings about U.S. immigrants
The United States has more immigrants
than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people
living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth
of the world’s migrants in 2016. The population of immigrants is also very
diverse, with just about every country in the world represented among U.S.
immigrants.
Pew Research Center regularly
publishes statistical portraits of the nation’s foreign-born
population, which include historical trends since 1960. Based on these portraits, here are
answers to some key questions about the U.S. immigrant population.
How
many people in the U.S. are immigrants? The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 43.7
million in 2016. Since 1965, when U.S. immigration laws replaced a national quota system, the number of immigrants living in the
U.S. has more than quadrupled. Immigrants today account for 13.5% of the U.S. population,
nearly triple the share (4.7%) in 1970. However, today’s immigrant share
remains below the record 14.8% share in 1890, when 9.2 million immigrants lived
in the U.S.
What is
the legal status of immigrants in the U.S.? Most immigrants (76%) are in the country
legally, while a quarter are unauthorized, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on
census data adjusted for undercount.
In 2016, 45% were naturalized U.S. citizens.
Some 27% of immigrants were permanent
residents and 5% were temporary residents in 2016. Another 24% of all
immigrants were unauthorized immigrants. From 1990 to 2007, the unauthorized immigrant population tripled in size – from 3.5 million
to a record high of 12.2 million. During the Great Recession, the number declined by 1 million and
since then has leveled off. In 2016, there were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., accounting for 3.3%
of the nation’s population.
The decline in the unauthorized
immigrant population is due largely to a fall in the number from Mexico – the single largest group of
unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Between 2007 and 2016, this group decreased
by more than 1 million. Meanwhile, there was a rise in the number from Central America.
Do all
lawful immigrants choose to become U.S. citizens?
Not all lawful permanent residents
choose to pursue U.S. citizenship. Those who wish to do so may apply
after meeting certain requirements, including having lived in the U.S. for
five years. In fiscal year 2017, 986,851 immigrants applied for naturalization.
The number of naturalization applications has climbed in recent years, though the annual
totals remain below the 1.4 million applications filed in 2007.
Generally, most immigrants eligible for
naturalization apply to become citizens. However, Mexican lawful immigrants
have the lowest naturalization rate overall. Language and personal
barriers, lack of interest and financial barriers are among the top reasons for
choosing not to naturalize cited by Mexican-born green card holders, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center survey.
Where
do immigrants come from?
Mexico is the top origin country of the U.S. immigrant population.
In 2016, 11.6 million immigrants living in the U.S. were from there, accounting
for 26% of all U.S. immigrants. The next largest origin groups were those from
China (6%), India (6%), the Philippines (4%) and El Salvador (3%).
By region of birth, immigrants from South and East Asia combined accounted for 27% of all immigrants, a share
equal to that of Mexico. Other regions make up smaller shares: Europe/Canada
(13%), the Caribbean (10%), Central America (8%), South America (7%), the
Middle East (4%) and sub-Saharan Africa (4%).
Who
is arriving today?
More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year. In 2016, the top
country of origin for new immigrants coming into the U.S. was India, with
126,000 people, followed by Mexico (124,000), China (121,000) and Cuba
(41,000).
By race and ethnicity, more Asian immigrants than Hispanic
immigrants have arrived in the U.S. each year since 2010. Immigration from
Latin America slowed following the Great Recession, particularly from Mexico,
which has seen net decreases in U.S. immigration over the past
few years.
Asians are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the U.S. by 2055, surpassing
Hispanics. Pew Research Center estimates indicate that in 2065, Asians will
make up some 38% of all immigrants; Hispanics, 31%; whites, 20%; and blacks,
9%.
Is
the immigrant population growing? US foreign-born population reached 45 million
in 2015. New
immigrant arrivals have fallen, mainly due to a decrease in the number of
unauthorized immigrants coming to the U.S. The fall in the growth of the
unauthorized immigrant population can partly be attributed to more Mexican
immigrants leaving the U.S. than coming in.
Looking forward, immigrants and their
descendants are projected to account for 88% U.S. population growth through 2065, assuming current immigration
trends continue. In addition to new arrivals, U.S.
births to immigrant parents will be important to future U.S. growth. In 2016,
the percentage of women giving birth in the past
year was higher
among immigrants (7.4%) than among the U.S. born (5.9%). While U.S.-born women
gave birth to over 3 million children that year, immigrant women gave birth to
more than 750,000.
How many immigrants have come to the U.S. as refugees?
In 2017, more than half US refugees were from Congo, Iraq, Syria and
Somalia. See below:
Dem. Rep. Congo 9377
Iraq 6886
Syria 6557
Somalia 6130
Burma 5078
Iran 2577
Entrea 1917
Afghanistan 1311
Other countries 6069
Since the creation of the federal Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980, about 3 million refugees have been resettled in the U.S –
more than any other country.
In fiscal 2017, a total of 53,716
refugees were resettled in the U.S. The largest origin group of refugees was
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by Iraq, Syria, Somalia, and
Burma (Myanmar). Among all refugees admitted in that fiscal year, 22,861
are Muslims (43%) and 25,194 are Christians (47%). California, Texas and New York resettled nearly a quarter of all
refugees admitted in fiscal 2016.
Where
do most U.S. immigrants live?
Roughly half (46%) of the nation’s 43.7 million immigrants live in just three
states: California (24%), Texas (11%) and New York
(10%). California had
the largest immigrant population of any state in 2016, at 10.7 million. Texas and New York had more than 4.5 million
immigrants each. In terms of regions, about two-thirds of immigrants lived
in the West (34%) and South (33%). Roughly one-fifth lived in the Northeast
(21%) and 11% were in the Midwest.
In 2016, most immigrants lived in just
20 major metropolitan areas, with the largest populations in New York, Los
Angeles and Miami. These top 20 metro areas were home to 28.3 million immigrants, or 65% of the nation’s
total. Most of the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population lived in these top metro areas as well.
How
do immigrants compare with the U.S. population overall in education?
Immigrants in the U.S.
as a whole have lower levels of education than the U.S.-born population. In
2016, immigrants were three times as likely as the U.S. born to have not
completed high school (29% vs. 9%). However, immigrants were just as likely as
the U.S. born to have a college degree or more, 32% and 30% respectively.
Educational attainment varies among the nation’s immigrant
groups, particularly across immigrants from different regions of the world.
Immigrants from Mexico (57%) and Central America (49%) are less likely to be
high school graduates than the U.S. born (9%). On the other hand, immigrants
from South and East Asia, Europe, Canada, the Middle East and sub-Saharan
Africa were more likely than U.S.-born residents to have a bachelor’s or
advanced degree.
Among all immigrants, those from South
and East Asia (52%) and the Middle East (47%) were the most likely to have a
bachelor’s degree or more. Immigrants from Mexico (6%) and Central America (9%)
were the least likely to have a bachelor’s or higher.
How
many immigrants are working in the U.S.? In 2016, about 28 million immigrants
were working or looking for work in the U.S., making up some 17% of the total
civilian labor force. Lawful immigrants made up the majority of the immigrant
workforce, at 20.6 million. An additional 7.8 million immigrant workers are
unauthorized immigrants, the first time since 2006 that the number was significantly
below 8 million. They alone account for 4.8% of the civilian labor force, a dip
from their peak of 5.4% in 2007. During the same period, the overall U.S.
workforce grew, as did the number of U.S.-born workers and lawful immigrant
workers.
Immigrants, regardless of legal
status, work in a variety of jobs and do not make up the majority of workers in any U.S. industry. Lawful immigrants are most likely work
in professional, management, or business and finance jobs (38%) or service jobs
(21%). Unauthorized immigrants, by contrast, are most likely to be working in
service (31%) or construction jobs (17%).
Immigrants are also projected to drive future growth in the U.S. working-age
population through
at least 2035. As the Baby Boom generation heads into retirement, immigrants
and their children are expected to offset a decline in the working-age
population by adding about 18 million people of working age between 2015 and
2035.
How
well do immigrants speak English? Among immigrants ages 5 and older, half (51%) are proficient English speakers – either speaking English very
well (35%) or only speaking English at home (16%).
Immigrants from Mexico have the lowest rates of English
proficiency (32%), followed by Central Americans (33%) and immigrants from
South and East Asia (54%). Those from Europe or Canada (76%), sub-Saharan
Africa (72%), and the Middle East (61%) have the highest rates of English
proficiency.
The longer immigrants have lived in the U.S., the greater the likelihood they are
English proficient. Some 44% of immigrants living in the U.S. five years or
less are proficient. By contrast, more than half (55%) of immigrants who have
lived in the U.S. for 20 years or more are proficient English speakers.
Among immigrants ages 5 and older, Spanish is the most commonly spoken language. Some 43% of immigrants in the U.S.
speak Spanish at home. The top five languages spoken at home among immigrants
outside of Spanish are English only (16%), followed by Chinese (6%), Hindi
(5%), Filipino/Tagalog (4%) and French (3%).
How
many immigrants have been deported recently?
Around 340,000 immigrants were deported from the U.S. in fiscal 2016, slightly up since 2015. Overall, the
Obama administration deported about 3 million immigrants between 2009 and 2016,
a significantly higher number than the 2 million immigrants deported by the Bush
administration between 2001 and 2008.
Immigrants convicted of a crime made up
the minority of deportations in 2016, the most recent year for which statistics
by criminal status are available. Of the 340,000 immigrants deported in 2016,
some 40% had criminal convictions and 60% were not convicted of a crime. From
2001 to 2016, a majority (60%) of immigrants deported have not been convicted
of a crime.
How
many immigrants are apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border?
The number of
apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border has sharply decreased over the past
decade or so, from more than 1 million in fiscal 2006 to 303,916 in fiscal
2017. Today, there are more apprehensions of non-Mexicans than
Mexicans at the
border. In fiscal 2017, apprehensions of Central Americans at the border
exceeded those of Mexicans for the third time since 2014.
How
do Americans view immigrants and immigration?
While immigration has
been at the forefront of a national political debate, the U.S. public holds a
range of views about immigrants living in the country. Overall, a majority of
Americans have positive views about immigrants. Six-in-ten Americans (65%) say
immigrants strengthen the country“ because of their hard work and
talents,” while just over a quarter (26%) say immigrants burden the country by
taking jobs, housing and health care.
Yet these views vary starkly by
political affiliation. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 84%
think immigrants strengthen the country with their hard work and talents, and
just 12% say they are a burden. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning
independents, roughly as many (44%) say immigrants are a burden as say
immigrants strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents (42%).
Americans also hold more positive views
of some immigrant groups than others, according to a 2015 Pew Research
Center immigration report. More than four-in-ten Americans
expressed mostly positive views of Asian (47%) and European immigrants (44%),
yet only a quarter expressed such views of African and Latin American
immigrants (26% each). Roughly half of the U.S. public said immigrants are
making things better through food, music and the arts (49%), but almost equal
shares said immigrants are making crime and the economy worse (50% each).
Americans were divided on future levels
of immigration. Nearly half said immigration to the U.S. should be decreased
(49%), while one-third (34%) said immigration should be kept at its present
level and just 15% said immigration should be increased.
Note:
This is an update of a post originally published May 3, 2017.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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