Percentage of Immigrants in U.S. Hits Record High & Keeps Climbing
Last week, the Census Bureau released some data from the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS). Itshows that the nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) grew by 2.4 million people since 2010and is up one million from 2013 to 2014. Last month, the Center for Immigration Studies reported onmonthly Census Bureau data from the Current Population Survey, which also showed a substantial increase in immigrants.
The CPS is released on a timelier basis, but is a smaller survey that does not cover the immigrant population as completely as the ACS. The new data from the ACS allows for more detailed analysis by country of origin and state of residence. Both data sources show that growth in the immigrant population has rebounded after increasing more slowly from 2010 to 2013 following the Great Recession.
- The nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) hit a record 42.4 million in July 2014, an increase of 2.4 million since July 2010. The Census Bureau refers to all immigrants as foreign-born.
- The new data indicates that growth in the immigrant population is accelerating. Between 2010 and 2012, growth averaged 430,000 people a year, but between 2012 and 2013 the immigrant population grew by 520,000; it grew by 1.04 million from 2013 to 2014.
- As a share of the population, immigrants (legal and illegal) comprised 13.3 percent or about one out of eight U.S. residents in 2014, the highest percentage in 104 years. As recently as 1980, just 6.2 percent of the country was comprised of immigrants.
- In addition to immigrants, there were 16.2 million U.S.-born minor (<18) children with at least one immigrant parent in 2014, for a total of 58.6 million immigrants and their children. Immigrants and their minor children now account for more than one in six U.S. residents.
- The sending regions with the largest numerical increases in the number of immigrants living in the United States since 2010 were East Asia (up 642,000), South Asia (up 594,000), Sub-Saharan Africa (up 282,000), the Middle East (up 277,000), the Caribbean (up 269,000), and Central America (up 268,000).
- The sending countries with the largest numerical increases in the number of immigrants living in the United States since 2010 were India (up 426,000), China (up 353,000), the Dominican Republic (up 119,000), El Salvador (up 101,000), Guatemala (up 85,000), Pakistan (up 72,000), Colombia (up 70,000), Cuba (up 68,000), Honduras (up 66,000), Iraq (up 57,000), and Bangladesh (up 56,000).
Read the article “Percentage of Immigrants in U.S. Hits Record High & Keeps Climbing” on cis.org.
