Immigration in the United States
According to the Migration Policy Institute, “Few forces have shaped the modern world more than migration.” Building this country was begun in the 16th century by Europeans seeking fortunes or freedoms. Spanish explorers sought to expand the empire of Spain by conquering and colonizing southern reaches of the North American continent. A century later the Pilgrims and other religious groups fleeing oppression in European countries settled in what is now Massachusetts. Since then, the U.S. has benefited from the new energy and ingenuity that immigrants have brought.
As of September 2022, the U.S. was home to 47.9 million immigrants, more than any other country in the world. Approximately 20 percent of all global migrants reside in the U.S. Foreign born residents made up 14.6 percent of the population, or one in seven U.S. residents. As recently as 1990 they were one in 13 U.S. residents. Of these people, more than 50 percent have been naturalized. Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to lawful permanent residents after they meet the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Beginning in 1980, migrants from the Americas replaced European migrants as the largest percentage of immigrants in the U.S. After 1970, Mexico became the most common country of origin of U.S. immigrants. Mexicans comprised 24 percent of the immigrant population in the U.S. in 2021. Mexicans also account for the largest group of unauthorized immigrants: 48 percent of the total 11 million people in 2019, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute. Indian (6 percent) and Chinese (5 percent -including Hong Kong and Macao but not Taiwan) were the next two largest migrant groups. Immigrants from other Hispanic countries also have increased (e.g., the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and El Salvador), as have migrants from three other Asian countries: Philippines, Viet Nam, and South Korea.
Immigrants are a vital force in the U.S. economy. Regarding employment, one in six U.S. workers is an immigrant. Immigrant employment is noteworthy in a variety of occupations and in industries throughout the economy. As consumers, immigrants contribute more than a trillion dollars to the U.S. economy. Immigrant economic activity produces billions of dollars in tax revenue, particularly the billions resulting from their entrepreneurial business ventures.
According to the 2023 Migration Policy Institute’s assessment, “The United States is in the midst of an historic period in its immigration history, facing a changing composition of the immigrant population, pandemic-related pent-up demand for permanent and temporary visas resulting in extensive backlogs, record pressure at the U.S.-Mexico border, and somewhat decreasing public support for expanded immigration.” Unfortunately, partisan disagreements within Congress for many years have prevented agreement on legislative solutions that address immigration problems, thus effectively abdicating major policy decisions to the executive and judicial branches of government. Without substantive guidance from Washington, D.C., state and municipal governments have been forced to respond to the historic influx of migrants affecting the entire country.