Pew Research Center: Key Facts About American Immigrants

The number of natives from other countries living in the United States reached 44,4 million people in 2017 year. They make up 13,6% of the US population, which is almost three times the corresponding share (4,7%) in 1970. The majority of immigrants (76%) are in the country legally, about a quarter are illegal. Asian migrants arriving in the US more than Latin Americans.

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There are more immigrants in the USA than in any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 of millions of people living in the United States are natives of other countries, which is about one fifth of all migrants in the world in 2017. The immigrant population is also very diverse, and immigrants to the United States represent people from almost every country in the world.

The Pew Research Center regularly publishes statistical portraits of the population of a country of foreign origin, which includes historical trends from 1960 onwards. Below, based on these portraits, we provide answers to some key questions regarding the US immigrant population.

How many people living in the United States are immigrants?

What is the legal status of immigrants in the USA?

The majority of immigrants (76%) are in the country legally, while about a quarter of the total are illegal, according to new estimates of the Pew Center, based on census data adjusted for incomplete registration. In 2016, 45% of them became US citizens.

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In 2016, about 27% of immigrants had a permanent residence permit, and 5% - temporary. Another 24% of all immigrants were illegal. From 1990 to 2007, the number of illegal immigrants tripled from 3,5 million to a record high of 12,2 million. During the Great Recession, their number fell by 1 million and has since leveled off. In 2016, there were 10,7 millions of illegal immigrants in the United States, representing 3,3% of the country's population.

The reduction in the number of illegal immigrants is mainly due to the reduction in the flow of immigrants from Mexico, the largest group of illegal immigrants in the United States. Between 2007 and 2016, this group has shrunk by more than 1 million. Meanwhile, the number of immigrants from Central America has increased.

Do all legal immigrants become US citizens?

Not all legal residents residing in the country seek US citizenship. Those who wish to do this can apply if they meet certain conditions, including living in the US for five years. In the 2018 reporting year, about 800 thousands of immigrants applied for citizenship. The number of applications for naturalization has increased in recent years, although the average annual number remains below 1,4 million applications filed in 2007 year.

As a rule, the majority of immigrants eligible for naturalization apply for citizenship. Nonetheless, Mexican legal immigrants in general are much less likely to receive citizenship than others. Language and personal barriers, lack of interest and financial costs are among the main reasons for the refusal of naturalization, which are referred to by Mexican owners of green cards, according to a survey of the Pugh Research Center 2015 of the year.

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Where do immigrants come from?

Mexico is the main country from which immigrants enter the United States. In the 2017 year, 11,2 of the million immigrants living in the United States were its natives, representing 25% of all immigrants in the United States. The next largest immigrant groups were from China (6%), India (6%), the Philippines (5%) and El Salvador (3%).

By region of origin, immigrants from South and East Asia combined accounted for 27% of all immigrants, which is close to the proportion of immigrants from Mexico (25%). Other regions are less widely represented: Europe / Canada (13%), Caribbean (10%), Central America (8%), South America (7%), Middle East (4%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (4) %).

Who is coming now?

Every year more than 1 million immigrants come to the USA. In 2017, the main country from which new migrants arrived in the US was India, where 126 came from thousands of people, followed by Mexico (124 thousand), China (121 thousand) and Cuba (41 thousand).

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As for race and ethnicity, since 2010, Asian migrants have arrived in the US more often than Latin Americans. Immigration from Latin America slowed down after the Great Recession, especially from Mexico, where in the past few years there has been a decrease in the migration balance in the United States.

It is likely that by 2055, Asians will become the largest immigrant group in the United States, overtaking Latin Americans. The Pugh Research Center estimates that in 2065, Asians will account for about 38% of all immigrants; Latinos - 31%; whites - 20%; and blacks - 9%.

Is the number of immigrants growing?

The number of newly arrived immigrants has decreased, mainly due to a decrease in the number of illegal immigrants in the United States. The fact that the number of illegal immigrants began to grow more slowly may be partly due to the fact that more Mexican migrants leave the United States than they enter.

It is projected that the share of immigrants and their descendants will account for 88% of US population growth by 2065, assuming that current immigration trends will continue.

In addition to new arrivals, the birth of children from immigrant parents will be important for the future growth of the country's population. In 2017, the percentage of women who gave birth during the past year was higher among immigrants (7,5%) than among natives of the USA (5,8%). Women born in the United States produced more than 3 millions of children that year, while immigrant women gave birth to about 780 thousands of children.

How many immigrants in the US are refugees?

Since the creation of the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980, about 3 millions of refugees have been resettled in the USA - more than in any other country.

In the 2018 reporting year, a total of 22 491 refugees were resettled in the United States. The largest group of refugees by birth were natives of the Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by Burma (Myanmar), Ukraine, Bhutan and Eritrea. Among all the refugees accepted in this reporting year, 3495 are Muslims (16%) and 16 018 are Christians (71%). Over a quarter of all refugees admitted in the reporting year 2018 were resettled to Texas, Washington, Ohio and California.

Where exactly do most immigrants live in America?

Approximately half (45%) of the 44,4 million immigrants in the country live in three states: California (24%), Texas (11%) and New York (10%). In California, 2017 had the largest number of immigrants among all the states - 10,6 million people. Texas and New York have taken more than 4,5 millions of immigrants each.

Regarding the regions, about two thirds of immigrants lived in the West (34%) and South (33%). About one fifth lived in the Northeast (21%), and 11% lived in the Midwest.

In 2017, the majority of immigrants lived in 20 in major metropolitan areas, mainly in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. 20 had a million immigrants in these 28,7 major cities and their suburbs, or 64,7% of the total number of immigrants in the country. Most of the illegal migrants also live in these major urban centers.

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How educated are immigrants compared to the general mass of Americans?

Immigrants in the United States as a whole have a lower level of education than the natives of the country. In 2017, there were three times more immigrants with no complete secondary education than among natives of the USA (27% versus 9%). However, among immigrants, the same percentage of people with a bachelor's degree or higher (31% and 32%, respectively).

Education levels vary among national immigrant groups, especially among immigrants from different regions of the world. Immigrants from Mexico and Central America are less likely to be graduates than Americans (54% and 46%, respectively, do not have a secondary education certificate, compared to 9% Americans). On the other hand, immigrants from South and East Asia, Europe / Canada, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa are more likely than residents of the United States to have a bachelor’s degree or degree.

Among all immigrants come from South and East Asia (53%) and the Middle East (48%) are most likely to have a higher education. Immigrants from Mexico (7%) and Central America (11%) less often had a bachelor's degree or higher.

How many immigrants work in the USA?

In 2016, about 28 of millions of immigrants working or looking for work in the United States, which is about 17% of the total civilian labor force. Legal migrants made up the majority of the immigrant workforce - 20,6 million people. Another 7,8 million immigrant workers are illegal immigrants, for the first time since 2006, this number was significantly lower than 8 million. Only they account for 4,8% civilian labor, which is 5,4% less than in 2007 year. Over the same period, the total number of workers in the United States increased, as did the number of workers born in the United States and legal immigrant workers.

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Immigrants, regardless of their legal status, are employed in a wide variety of jobs and do not make up the majority of workers in any particular industry in the United States. Legal immigrants are likely to work in their profession, in managerial, business and financial positions (38%) or in the service sector (21%). In contrast, illegal migrants are most likely working in the services sector (31%) or on construction sites (17%).

It is assumed that immigrants will contribute to a further increase in the working-age population in the United States until at least 2035. As the baby boom generation is approaching retirement age, immigrants and their children are expected to compensate for the reduction in the working age population, adding about 18 to a million people of working age between 2015 and 2035.

How well do immigrants speak English?

Among immigrants aged 5 and older, half (52%) speak English quite well - either speak English very well (36%), or speak only English at home (16%).

Immigrants from Mexico have the lowest English proficiency (33%), followed by natives of Central America (34%), South America (54%) and immigrants from South and East Asia (56%). In Europe or Canada (77%), sub-Saharan Africa (73%) and in the Middle East (61%), English is the most proficient in English.

The longer immigrants lived in the United States, the higher the likelihood that they speak English. About 45% of immigrants living in the USA for five years or less know English well. In contrast, more than half (56%) of immigrants who have lived in the US for 20 or more years speak English perfectly.

Among immigrants aged 5 and older, Spanish is the most common language. About 43% of US immigrants speak Spanish at home. The five most frequent languages ​​spoken by immigrants at home, in addition to Spanish, are only English (17%), followed by Chinese (6%), Hindi (5%), Filipino / Tagalog (4%) and French ( 3%).

How many migrants have been deported lately?

About 295, thousands of migrants were deported from the US in the 2017 reporting year, which is less than in the 2016 year. In all, the Obama administration deported about 3 millions of immigrants between 2009 and 2016 a year, which is significantly more than 2 of the million immigrants who were deported by the Bush administration between 2001 and 2008. In 2017, the Trump administration deported 295 to thousands of immigrants, which is the lowest since 2006.

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Immigrants with a criminal record were a minority among all those deported in 2017, the most recent year for which criminal status statistics are available. Of the 295 thousands of immigrants deported in the 2017 year, about 41% had criminal records and 59% were not tried. From 2001 to 2017, the majority (60%) of deported immigrants were not convicted of a crime.

How many migrants are detained on the border between Mexico and the USA?

The number of detentions at the border of the United States and Mexico has dramatically decreased over the past ten years, from more than a million cases in the 2006 reporting year to 396 579 in the 2018 reporting year. Today, more people of other nationalities are arrested at the border than Mexicans. In the reporting year, 2018 detained immigrants from Central America at the border outnumbered Mexicans for the third consecutive year (and the fourth time since 2000, the earliest period for which country data are available).

What is the attitude of Americans to immigrants and immigration?

While immigration issues are on the agenda of political debate, the American public treats migrants living in the country differently. In general, most Americans are positive towards immigrants. Six out of ten Americans (62%) say that immigrants make the country stronger "because of their abilities and work," while a quarter think that immigrants are complicating the situation in the country by taking up jobs, housing, and receiving health services.

However, these views differ sharply depending on the political affiliation of the respondents. Among democrats and members of independent parties leaning towards their position, 83% believe that immigrants strengthen the country with their diligence and talents, and only 11% consider them a burden. Among Republicans and members of independent parties of republican views, 38% say that immigrants strengthen the country, and almost half (49%) state that they burden it.

Americans disagree on the future level of immigration. A quarter said that immigration to the United States should be less (24%), while more than one third (38%) said that immigration should remain at its current level, and almost another third (32%) said that immigration should grow .

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