E.g., 06/14/2024
E.g., 06/14/2024
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
September 2009
By  Michael Fix, Demetrios G. Papademetriou, Jeanne Batalova, Aaron Terrazas, Serena Yi-Ying Lin and Michelle Mittelstadt
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About 65,000 immigrants serve across the U.S. military's four branches, and more than two-thirds are naturalized citizens. MPI's Jeanne Batalova examines where these immigrants are from and the policies that grant them citizenship.

Spotlight on Mexican Immigrants April 2008 map

In 2006, more than 11.5 million Mexican immigrants resided in the United States, accounting for 30.7 percent of all US immigrants. MPI's Jeanne Batalova examines the number of Mexican immigrants in the United States, their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Mexican-born unauthorized population.

There were nearly 34 million temporary admissions to the United States in 2006, twice the number in 1990. MPI's Jeanne Batalova outlines the definition of nonimmigrants and takes a detailed look at admissions data and data limitations.

In 2006, about 271,000 foreign born of Pakistani origin were residing in the United States. MPI's Jeanne Batalova and Uriah Ferruccio examine the geographic distribution and socioeconomic characteristics of this population.

In 2006, nearly 15.2 million naturalized citizens were eligible to vote in the United States. MPI's Claire Bergeron and Jeanne Batalova examine naturalization trends.

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Recent Activity

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The 1.1 million Salvadoran immigrants residing in the United States in 2008 accounted for 2.9 percent of all U.S. immigrants, making them the second-largest immigrant group from Latin America. MPI's Aaron Terrazas examines their socioeconomic characteristics, where they live, and the size of the Salvadoran-born unauthorized population.

Reports
January 2010

Mexico's efforts to help its migrants succeed in the U.S. offer a new example of an immigrant-sending country looking to improve its emigrants' lives and connect with its diaspora. This report examines Mexico's approach to its migrants and details the activities of the government's attempt to map the expanding range of its educational, health care, financial, and civic programs.

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The 18.9 million immigrant women in the United States in 2008 made up 12 percent of all women in the country. MPI's Jeanne Batalova examines which countries they come from, their labor force participation, and their socioeconomic status.

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In 2008, there were just under 800,000 apprehensions, the lowest number since 1975. MPI's Kristen McCabe and Jeanne Batalova take a detailed look at the latest immigration enforcement statistics.

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There were nearly 40 million temporary admissions to the United States in 2008, more than twice the number in 1990. MPI's Jeanne Batalova outlines the definition of nonimmigrants and takes a detailed look at admissions data and data limitations.

Reports
September 2009

This report, commissioned by the BBC World Service, seeks to explore the myriad impacts of the global financial crisis that began in September 2008 on migration flows, immigration policies, remittances, and on migrants themselves. Select countries and regions are examined in detail to highlight overarching trends and regional differences.

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Over one million immigrants—one-third from Mexico, India, and the Philippines—became U.S. citizens in 2008. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at the latest naturalization trends in the United States.

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In 2008, the United States raised the ceiling on refugee admission by 10,000, admitted more than 60,000 refugees for resettlement, and granted asylum to nearly 23,000 people. MPI's Jeanne Batalova takes a detailed look at refugee and asylum statistics in the United States.

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