Immigration information

Recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey shows that 12.5% of the total U.S. population (roughly 37.96 million) is foreign born.

According to the Migration Information Source, foreign born This includes naturalized citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees, persons on certain temporary visas and the unauthorized.

“The number of foreign born in the United States reported in the 2008 American Community Survey is slightly lower than the 38,059,694 foreign born (12.6 percent of the total population) reported in the 2007 American Community Survey,” according to a statement from MIS. “However, the difference is small and is not statistically significant. Still, this is a departure from previous years when the number of foreign born in the United States grew rapidly.”

The MIS also uses information from the the U.S. departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and State (DOS), Mexico’s National Population Council (CONAPO) and National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), for its report.

Highlights of the MIS report include:
• Data on the nativity of the U.S. population was first collected in the 1850 decennial census. That year, there were 2.2 million foreign born in the United States, 9.7% of the total population.

• Between 1860 and 1920, immigrants as a percentage of the total population fluctuated between about 13% and 15%, peaking at 14.8% in 1890 mainly due to European immigration. By 1930, immigrants’ share of the U.S. population had dropped to 11.6% (14.2 million individuals).

• The share of foreign born in the U.S. population continued to decline between the 1930s and 1970s, reaching a record low of 4.7% in 1970 (9.6 million individuals). However, since 1970, the percentage has risen rapidly, mainly due to large-scale immigration from Latin America and Asia.

• In 1980, according to the US Census Bureau, the foreign born represented 6.2% (14.1 million individuals) of the total U.S. population. By 1990, their share had risen to 7.9% (19.8 million individuals) and, by the 2000 census, they made up 11.1% (31.1 million individuals) of the total US population.

• Of the 38.0 million foreign born in the United States in 2008, 41.9% entered the country prior to 1990, 28.6% between 1990 and 1999, and 29.5% in 2000 or later.

• Just over two in five (43%) immigrants in the United States in 2008 were naturalized U.S. citizens. The remaining 57% of immigrants included lawful permanent residents, unauthorized immigrants, and legal residents on temporary visas, such as students and temporary workers.

• The United States deported almost 1.2 million aliens in 2008. The total number of aliens deported follows a similar trend to apprehensions, rising from 1,052,572 in 1990 to 1,864,343 in 2000 before declining to 1,170,149 in 2008.

• The number of removals (forced deportations) rose throughout the period from 30,039 in 1990 to 188,467 in 2000 and 358,886 in 2008. By contrast, voluntary returns first increased over the period, from 1,022,522 in 1990 to 1,675,876 in 2000, but they declined to 811,263 in 2008.