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Immigration to the U.S. has changed dramatically over the course of the last century. If we think about the picture of U.S. immigration 100 years ago, in 1921, we can see that the current situation is quite a bit different. In 1921, the majority of immigrants to the U.S. came from Europe, and primarily from southern and eastern Europe. This period of immigration during the late 1890s and early 1920s was very different from the situation which existed earlier; before 1890, most immigrants came from northern or western Europe. The U.S. government responded to the immigration issues of the early 1900s by imposing a rather strict quota in the 1924 Immigration Act. In 1965, this quota system was dismantled, and then gradually the U.S. began receiving more immigrants from other places throughout the globe.
Today, we’d like to go over some of the critical statistics on legal immigration to the U.S. This can help give us a concrete sense of what’s really going on with the immigration situation here in the United States.
- How Many Immigrants Arrive Each Year?
On an annual basis, the U.S. takes in a little over 1 million legal immigrants every year. This has been the typical figure for a number of years. Let’s look back at the years 2015 to 2019 for reference. In 2015, the U.S. took in 1,051,031 immigrants from various places across the world; in 2016, that figure jumped to 1,183,505. In 2017, the figure dropped a bit to 1,127,167, and in 2018 the number declined further to 1,096,611. In 2019, the figure dropped below where it was in 2015 to 1,031,765. If we do a bit of mathematics, we can compute an average figure for this 5 year period: 1,098,016. That’s a lot of people to take in each year!
- Where Do Immigrants Come From?
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When we look at the places from where our immigrants derive, the situation becomes even more fascinating. The recent statistics really confirm the notion that the U.S. is indeed a melting pot. First, let’s simply break things down by continent. Between the same period referenced above – 2015 to 2019 – a whopping 44.8% of all the legal immigrants to the U.S. derived from either North America or South America. And within these continents, a few of the main contributors were Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba, Colombia, and Brazil. Asia was the second largest contributor: a hefty 35.4% of immigrants hailed from Asia during this period. The largest contributors were China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam, in that order. During this period, Europe contributed just 10.8% of the immigrants. That’s a big departure from the earlier historical trends set in previous eras.
- Key Lessons
There are many things we can take away from this information. One thing we can take away is that the U.S. has plenty of spaces available on a yearly basis. The idea that America isn’t accepting enough newcomers is likely mistaken. The U.S. accepts almost 1.1 million people every year; that’s a lot of individuals to assimilate on an annual basis.
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Another thing we can take away is that having a qualified immigration attorney to assist with the immigration process is very important. These figures would likely be considerably higher if all potential immigrants had access to a capable attorney. In many cases, applicants fail to secure permanent resident status because they don’t know how the process works. People are unaware of all the legal requirements, and so they ultimately fail to secure permanent resident status successfully. If you want to join the ranks of those accepted successfully, the key thing is to hire a qualified attorney.
- Contact New Frontier Immigration Law for More Information
To learn more, contact New Frontier Immigration Law today by calling 623-742-5400. We can review your situation and develop the best possible strategy to reach your goals.
