Immigration to the United States The U.S. foreign-born population reached a record 44.8 million in 2018. Take a look at the statistics. More than 1 million immigrants arrive in the U.S. each year.
Most immigrants (77%) are in the country legally, while almost a quarter are unauthorized.
U.S. foreign-born population reached 45 million in 2015, projected to reach 78 million by 2065
In 2018, the top country of origin for new immigrants coming into the U.S. was China, followed by India, Mexico, and the Philippines.
Overall, Mexico is the top origin country of the current U.S. immigrant population accounting for 25% of all U.S. immigrants.
By race and ethnicity, more Asian immigrants than Hispanic immigrants have arrived in the U.S. in most years since 2009.
Immigration from Latin America slowed following the Great Recession, particularly for Mexico, which has seen both decreasing flows into the U.S. and large flows back to Mexico in recent years.
The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world.
Immigrant share of U.S. population nears historic high % of U.S. population that is foreign born
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, “Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 1850-2000” and Pew Research Center tabulations of 2010 and 2018 American Community Survey (IPUMS).
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 and their descendants are projected to account for 88% of U.S. population growth through 2065.
Around 337,000 immigrants were deported in 2018, up since 2017. The Trump administration deported 295,000 immigrants in 2017, the lowest total since 2006. New immigrant arrivals have fallen, mainly due to a decrease in the number of unauthorized immigrants coming to the U.S. The drop in the unauthorized immigrant population can primarily be attributed to more Mexican immigrants leaving the U.S. than coming in. The number of apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border has doubled from 2018 to 2019, from 396,579 in 2018 to 851,508 in 2019. Today, there are more apprehensions of non-Mexicans than Mexicans at the border. In 2019, apprehensions of Central Americans exceeded those of Mexicans for the fourth consecutive year.
Roughly half of the nation’s 44.8 million immigrants live in just three states: California, Texas, and Florida. California had the largest immigrant population of any state in 2018, at 10.6 million. Texas, Florida, and New York had more than 4 million immigrants each. Overall, a majority of Americans have positive views about immigrants. About two-thirds of Americans say immigrants strengthen the country “because of their hard work and talents,” while about a quarter 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, 88% think immigrants strengthen the country with their hard work and talents, and just 8% say they are a burden. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 41% say immigrants strengthen the country, while nearly half (44%) say they burden it. Americans were divided on future levels of immigration. A quarter (24%) said immigration to the U.S. should be decreased, while one-third (38%) said immigration should be kept at its present level, and almost another third (32%) said immigration should be increased.
In 2017, about 29 million immigrants were working or looking for work in the U.S., making up nearly 17% of the civilian labor force.
Immigrants in the U.S. as a whole have lower levels of education than the U.S.born population. In 2018, immigrants were three times as likely as the U.S.-born to have not completed high school. However, immigrants were just as likely as the U.S.born to have a bachelor’s degree or more.
Lawful immigrants made up the majority of the immigrant workforce, at 21.2 million. An additional 7.6 million immigrant workers are unauthorized immigrants, less than the total of the previous year and notably less than in 2007, when they were 8.2 million.
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.
Source: Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Prepared by The Connecticut Forum as a companion to the Debating Immigration Forum. October, 2020.