Immigrant Population in the United States

Mar 19, 2017 News

By Attorney Gail Seeram

The recent attack on immigrants and promise of mass deportation bring to light the question of “how many immigrants (legal and illegal) really live in the U.S., and where are they from?” According to data from the Migration Policy Institute, immigrants in the United States totaled 43.3 million in 2015. Between 2014 and 2015, the foreign-born population in the U.S. increased by 899,000, or 2.1 percent, a slower growth rate compared to 2.5 percent between 2013 and 2014.
According to the 2016 Current Population Survey (CPS), immigrants and their U.S.-born children now number approximately 84.3 million people, or 27 percent of the overall U.S. population.
In 2015, 1.38 million foreign-born individuals moved to the United States, a 2 percent increase from 1.36 million in 2014. India was the leading country of origin for recent immigrants, with 179,800 arriving in 2015, followed by 143,200 from China, 139,400 from Mexico, 47,500 from the Philippines, and 46,800 from Canada. In 2013, India and China overtook Mexico as the top origin countries for recent arrivals.
Between 1860 and 1920, the immigrant share of the overall population fluctuated between 13 percent and nearly 15 percent, peaking at 14.8 percent in 1890, mainly due to high levels of immigration from Europe.
Restrictive immigration legislation in 1921 and 1924, coupled with the Great Depression and World War II, led to a sharp drop in new arrivals. As a result, the foreign-born population declined between the 1930s and 1970s, reaching a record low of approximately 5 percent in 1970. Since 1970, the number of U.S. immigrants more than quadrupled, rising from 9.6 million then to 43.3 million in 2015 (see accompanying chart).

In 2015, Mexicans accounted for approximately 27 percent of immigrants in the United States, making them by far the largest foreign-born group in the country. India was the next largest country of origin, with close to 6 percent of all immigrants, followed by China (including Hong Kong but not Taiwan) and the Philippines, at close to 5 percent each. El Salvador, Vietnam, and Cuba (about 3 percent each), as well as the Dominican Republic, Korea, and Guatemala (2 percent each), rounded out the top ten. Together, immigrants from these ten countries represented 58 percent of the U.S. immigrant population in 2015.
Now that the U.S. immigrant population represents a majority in the U.S., it might explain why some politicians feel threatened. Unfortunately, the immigrant majority population needs to vote and have a louder voice in American politics.
For more information, contact Gail Law Firm:
Email: Gail@GailLaw.com
Phone: 1-877-GAIL-LAW or 407-292-7730
www.MyOrlandoImmigrationLawyer.com
FREE in-office consultation – FREE Live Chat

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