Immigration Research
Explanation of source links: Throughout the research below, you will find links of three types. The first and most frequent type is to primary sources such as governmental agencies. The second is to nonprofit groups that generally use government data or their own research to support their philanthropic mission. We have tried to use the least biased of these, or when in doubt, we have identified their bias. The third is to articles in periodicals or newspapers that we find to be of interest. These are not meant to be construed as original sources, and in some cases may not be accessible, depending on a reader's frequency of prior visits to the linked periodical or newspaper.
What are the major programs available for people who desire to immigrate legally to the US?
In order to enter the country legally, an individual must apply for one of the following programs from outside the US.
Family-based immigration: Family-based immigration policies allow US citizens and LPRs (lawful permanent residents) to bring certain family members to the US. They are then admitted into the country either as immediate relatives or through the family preference system. Immediate relatives are defined as spouses, unmarried minor children (under 21 years of age), and parents of US citizens. The family preference system includes adult children/brothers/sisters, spouses, and unmarried children. Visas issued under both systems are limited based on an annual numerical formula.
Employment-based immigration: Through employment-based visas, migrants can enter temporarily or permanently. If an employer uses the temporary program, they can hire foreign nationals for specific jobs for limited periods. These migrants must work for a specific employer and have limited ability to change jobs. There are different classifications for temporary workers (including intracompany transfers, athletes, entertainers, performers, religious workers, etc.). If an employer uses the permanent program, immigrant employees must fit into one of five categories: persons of extraordinary ability, members of professions holding advanced degrees, skilled workers with at least two years of training or experience, professionals with college degrees, and “other” workers for unskilled labor. The limit for permanent employment-based immigrants is 140,000 per year (including immigrants and their eligible spouses and unmarried children).
Refugees and asylees: This program provides legal admission to people “who are fleeing persecution or are unable to return to their homeland due to life-threatening or extraordinary conditions.” To qualify as a “refugee,” you must have a “well-founded fear of persecution.” Those seeking refugee status must apply for admission from a transition country outside the US (not their home country). Admission relies on factors like the degree of risk they face, membership in a group the US is interested in, and whether or not they have family in the US. The category of “asylum” is available to people already in the US seeking protection. They must apply within one year of arriving in the US, and there is no limit to the amount of people who may be granted asylum.
The diversity visa program: The Immigrant Act of 1990 created a lottery to encourage immigration from countries with low rates of immigration to the US. 55,000 visas are allocated randomly to nationals from countries that have sent fewer than 50,000 migrants to the US in the previous 5 years. This is one of the only avenues for individuals from certain regions in the world to secure a green card. To be eligible, the applicant must have a high-school education (or equivalent), and a minimum of two years working experience in a profession (requiring at least two years of training/experience), within the last five years. A computer-generated random lottery selects who receives the visas.
Other forms of humanitarian relief: There are two other programs in the category of humanitarian relief. First is “temporary protected status,” which is granted to people who are in the US but can’t return home due to natural disaster, extraordinary temporary conditions, or ongoing armed conflict in their home countries. A second is called “deferred enforced departure,” which provides protection from deportation for those whose home countries are unstable, generally decided at the discretion of the executive branch.
How do people enter the country illegally?
The answer to this question requires an important definition of terms.
Undocumented or unauthorized immigrants:
There are two categories of immigrants who are in the country with unauthorized or undocumented status.
The largest category consists of those who entered the country legally but stayed beyond the expiration of their visas. These individuals are often referred to as “overstays.”
The second category includes those who have avoided detection upon entering the country illegally. This category are referred to as “getaways.”
Since these individuals are here illegally, we can only estimate their numbers. In 2022, the Office of Homeland Security estimated there to be 11 million such unauthorized immigrants. (See more on this below.)
Documented immigrants who enter illegally:
This category of immigrants has received significant attention in recent years. It includes individuals who present themselves at the border seeking asylum, per the program described above, without attempting to avoid detection. Since they have not applied for the program from outside the U.S., they are considered illegal at that point.
Per federal law and international treaty (see more below), these individuals are interviewed to determine the credibility of their claims. Based on these findings, they may be returned to their home country, held in detention awaiting return, held in detention awaiting a further hearing, or documented and released into the country. At that point, they are no longer considered illegal, unauthorized, or undocumented.
What are the basic facts of immigration in the US today?
According to the generally available US census data, in 2023 immigrants and their US-born children totaled approximately 90.8 million people, which is 27% of the US population. This number includes both authorized and unauthorized immigrants. This includes 18 million children with at least one immigrant parent and 5.8 million US citizen children with a non-citizen parent. The majority of children with at least one immigrant parent are US citizens, with 88% born in the US.
How has this number changed over time?
Although the number of immigrants in the US has fluctuated over time, the number of immigrants began increasing after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965. The following graph is provided by the Pew Research Center based on US Census Bureau data.
How many of these immigrants are unauthorized?
Also according to US government data compiled by the Pew Research Center, there were an estimated 11.0 million unauthorized immigrants in 2022. These estimates are based on the 2022 American Community Survey.
How has this number changed over time?
The increase from 10.0 million in 2020 to 11.0 million in 2022 reversed a long-term downward trend from 2007 to 2019. This is the first sustained increase in the unauthorized immigrant population since the period from 2005 to 2007.
IN THE LATEST YEAR WHERE DATA ARE AVAILABLE, HOW MANY LEGAL IMMIGRANTS ENTERED THE US?
According to the Department of Homeland Security, in 2023, 1.17 million legal immigrants were granted green cards via one of the several programs described above.
Which countries do most authorized immigrants originate from?
The largest countries of origin were Mexico, India, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, and Canada. As indicated above, most entered through family-sponsored visas, employment-based programs, and humanitarian programs for refugees and those seeking asylum.
Which countries do most unauthorized immigrants originate from?
According to the Migration Policy Institute, as of 2024, 53% of the unauthorized population originated in Mexico, 16% from Asia, 6% from El Salvador, and 5% from Guatemala. The Urban Institute also estimates that approximately 70,000 Canadians live illegally in the US.
How many unauthorized immigrants enter the country each year?
As indicated above, unauthorized immigrants enter the US by crossing the border with detection (getaways) while others overstay their visas (overstays). Unfortunately, while the government may make estimates, the exact number is unknown. The government estimates the number of immigrants who getaways based on the number of border encounters. Normally this estimate is approximately 14% to 20%. Border encounters are recorded and published regularly. According to US Customs and Border Protection, and compiled in the following graph by Factcheck.org, with the exception of 2019, the number of apprehensions along the southwest border had declined steadily in recent years. However, from 2021 to 2023, the number of encounters increased significantly, from 1.96 million in 2021 to 2.77 million in 2022, to 3.2 million in 2023. If the estimate of 14% is correct for 2023 as an example, the total number of truly unauthorized immigrants that year would have been 448,000.
While there is no estimate of the number of annual “overstays” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) believes that approximately 44% of total unauthorized immigrants are in this category.
What else do we know about the demographics of unauthorized immigrants?
Years of residence in the US: Over 60% of unauthorized immigrants have been in the US longer than 10 years, 78% are over the age of 25, and males outnumber females by 53% to 47%.
What can be said about the education levels of migrants arriving in the US?
According to the Pew Research Center, in 2022 35% immigrants over the age of 25 had a bachelor’s degree and compared to 36% of US born. However, the level of education is highly dependent on the region of origin of the immigrant. For example, 72% of immigrants from South Asia has bachelor’s degrees, while only 9% of immigrants from Mexico do. In addition, according to the American Immigration Council, 26% of all US doctors have medical degrees from foreign countries. 39% of computer programmers and nearly 30% of healthcare support professionals in the US were born in foreign countries.
How do immigrants fare economically once in the US?
CBS News provides a useful summary of various government data sources on immigrant participation in the labor force. Although immigrant participation rates are the same as native-born Americans, there is a gap in weekly earnings between the two groups. This gap declines with the more education a person receives and, in fact, foreign-born workers with bachelor’s, master’s, or postgraduate degrees outperform native-born Americans in weekly earnings by a small amount. Immigrants are also more likely to start and own a business. Lastly, immigrants tend to be highly represented in industries such as building and grounds maintenance, construction and extraction, computer and mathematical jobs, and food preparation and serving.
Do unauthorized immigrants pay taxes?
Yes, unauthorized immigrants pay payroll, property, sales, and personal income taxes.
Do immigrants engage in more criminal behavior than non-immigrants?
Although it appears that current data are limited, according to the American Immigration Council, “For more than a century, innumerable studies have confirmed two simple yet powerful truths about the relationship between immigration and crime: immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born, and high rates of immigration are associated with lower rates of violent crime and property crime. This holds true for both legal immigrants and the unauthorized, regardless of their country of origin or level of education.”
According to a study conducted by Kristin Butcher of Wellesley College and Anne Morrison Piehl of Rutgers, of men ages 18 to 40, “immigrants were less likely to be in correctional institutions than the native-born.” Examining data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 decennial censuses, they found that such immigrants were incarcerated “on the order of one-fifth the rate of native born.”
How does one become a US Citizen?
To qualify for citizenship through naturalization, one must have held LPR status (green card) for at least five years. There are exceptions for members of the US military who serve in a time of war. One must be at least 18 years of age, demonstrate continuous residency, be of good moral character, and pass English, US history, and civics examinations.
How does one enter the US as a student?
The US offers three types of student visas: F, J, and M. The F visa is for study at a US college or university, or to study English at an English language institute. The J visa is for participation in an exchange program (high school or university), and the M visa is for non-academic or vocational study/training in the US.
Significant immigration reform and amnesty took place during the Reagan administration. What did it include?
President Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The act increased enforcement of the immigration laws while at the same time allowing amnesty for several million unauthorized immigrants living in the US. Specifically, the law increased sanctions on employers who hired individuals without documentation, and substantially increased the level of border security. As part of the effort to recognize the status of those living in the US illegally, the law provided a process for applying for permanent residence. Three million people applied and nearly 2.7 million were granted residency.
Have there been other notable reforms since that time?
Yes, there have been several. The 1990 Immigration Act significantly raised legal admission levels, primarily in order to allow more employment-based immigration. In 1996, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act established an “expedited removal” procedure for non-citizens who enter improperly or with fraudulent documents. That same year, the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act added new grounds of inadmissibility and deportability. It created expedited removal procedures, expanded mandatory detention of immigrants (in the case that they have previously been convicted of certain criminal offenses), increased the number of border patrol agents, and introduced new border control measures. Following 9/11, President Bush passed the 2001 USA Patriot Act, which broadened the government’s ability to exclude migrants and increased monitoring of foreign students in the interest of preventing terrorism. In 2002, the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act was passed to develop an electronic data system that could be used to share information about those denied entry across various arms of the government.
How has President Trump impacted immigration in the US since taking office?
President Trump has signed several executive orders, many of which have not been funded by Congress or have been delayed by federal judges around the country.
His “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements” executive order directed the Department of Homeland Security to take operational control of the US-Mexico border by constructing a wall, hiring an additional 5,000 border patrol agents, increasing the construction of detention facilities, increasing the detention of immigrants, and expanding the basis for expedited removal of undocumented individuals throughout the country (as opposed to within 100 miles of the border).
His executive order “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States” attempted to prevent sanctuary jurisdictions from receiving federal grants, permitted state and local law enforcement to act as immigration agents to apprehend and detain migrants, expanded the priority list of noncitizens subject to deportation, and authorized an increase of 10,000 additional ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents.
Finally, his executive order entitled “Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Attacks by Foreign Nationals” sought to suspend the issuance of visas to countries designated as detrimental to the interests of the US for 90 days. The list of countries included Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. It also suspended the US resettlement program, and reduced the number of refugees to be admitted into the US to 50,000 (from 110,000 set by the Obama administration). Lastly, it suspended the resettlement of Syrian refugees indefinitely.
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