15 immigration facts that may surprise you
The long-running immigration debate, which has intensified during the Republican presidential primary campaign, has focused mostly on how to deal with immigrants who are in this country illegally, how and whether to provide them with a path to citizenship and how to prevent others from entering this country illegally.
But the debate has been sullied by misinformation about illegal immigration and the potential solutions, and by the lack of focus on the flaws of legal immigration itself.To help fill the knowledge gap, here are 15 things you may not have known about illegal and legal immigration alike:
1. Mexican-born immigrants accounted for about 28 percent of the 41.3 million foreign-born residents in the U.S. in 2013.
The second-largest immigrant group is from India, closely trailed by China (including Hong Kong but not Taiwan), which both account for 5 percent. Philippines (4 percent) is the fourth-largest sending country, followed by Vietnam, El Salvador, Cuba, and Korea (3 percent each), and the Dominican Republic and Guatemala (2 percent each). Together, those 10 countries account for nearly 60 percent of the U.S. immigrant population.
Source: Migration Policy Institute
2. In 1965, an immigration quota system that had been in place since the 1920s, in which each nationality was assigned a quota based on its representation in past U.S. census figures, was abolished under the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
The system at the time came under attack for favoring northern Europeans at the expense of Italians, Poles, Greeks and Portuguese, who were seeking to enter the U.S. in increasing numbers. President John F. Kennedy gave a speech in 1963 calling the quota system “intolerable.”
The 1965 act gave preference to relatives of U.S. citizens or permanent residents, those with skills deemed useful to the U.S. and refugees of violence or unrest. Though it abolished quotas per se, the system did place caps on per-country and total immigration, as well as caps on each category, which continue to this day.
Source: History.com
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3.In 1960, 75 percent of the foreign-born population that resided in the United States came from Europe.
In 2012, only 11.8 percent of the immigrant population emigrated from Europe. Italian-born immigrants made up 13 percent of all foreign born in 1960, followed by those born in Germany and Canada (about 10 percent each). In the 1960s no single country accounted for more than 15 percent of the total immigrant population.
Sources: Center for American Progress, Migration Policy Center.
4. Since 1970, the number of U.S. immigrants more than quadrupled, from 9.6 million in 1970 to 41.3 million in 2013.
Between 1860 and 1920, the immigrant share of the total population fluctuated between 13 and 15 percent, peaking at 15 percent in 1890, mainly due to high levels of European immigration. Restrictive immigration legislation in 1921 and 1924, the Great Depression and World War II led to a sharp drop in new arrivals. As a result, the foreign-born share steadily declined between the 1930s and 1970s, reaching a record low of approximately 5.4 percent in 1970. Today, the foreign-born population accounts for about 13.1 percent of the total.
Sources: Migration Policy Institute, U.S. Census
5. The total number of deportations in 2011, the latest year for which complete numbers are available, was 715,495 — the lowest level since 1973.
The highest number of deportations on record was in 2000, under the Clinton administration, when 1,864,343 aliens were deported. In 2012, the year the Obama administration claimed to break enforcement records, more than one-half of “removals” attributed to ICE were the result of Border Patrol arrests that were not counted as removals in prior years. In 2008, under the Bush administration, only one-third of removals were from Border Patrol arrests.
Source: Center for Immigration Studies
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6. It would cost an estimated $15 billion to $25 billion to construct a wall along the entire 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border, and another $750 million a year to maintain it.
About 670 miles of fencing has been built in accordance with the George W. Bush administration's Secure Fence Act of 2006 at a cost of about $2.4 billion. But much of the fencing was built in areas easier and less costly to fence. Also, under Donald Trump’s plan, the U.S. would build a wall, not just a fence. The cost for a wall would be substantially higher.
Source: Congressional Budget Office, Department of Homeland Security.
7. It can take up to 25 years to become a legal citizen in the U.S.
During the 2013 immigration debate, U.S. Rep. Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin objected that the Senate version of the reform bill endorsed by two-thirds of the Senate would allow undocumented immigrants to become naturalized citizens in 13 years, compared to 25 years for those waiting in line legally.
The time it takes varies greatly depending on a person’s circumstances and nation of origin. To obtain citizenship, an immigrant must first obtain a green card and then wait either 3 or 5 years before applying for citizenship.
The current immigration process is first-come, first-served and limits the total number of people admitted each year on family or employment visas granting permanent residency. Long waiting lists have resulted. In some cases, it can take 20 years to gain permission to enter the country. More than 4 million people are now on a waiting list, about one third of whom are from Mexico.
Source: Migration Policy Institute, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
8. The passage rate for the Naturalization Test needed to become a U.S. citizen exceeds 90 percent.
Persons seeking U.S. citizenship must “demonstrate an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language, and have a knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government (civics).”
To pass the civics test, during the applicants’ naturalization interview, they must answer orally six of 10 questions taken from a list of 100 questions on the USCIS website. The reading and writing tests consist of three questions apiece. Applicants only need to provide satisfactory responses to one of the three on each test.
Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
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9. People from Mexico account for more than half of the undocumented population living in the United States.
In 2012, 6 million people — or 52 percent of the undocumented population — were from Mexico, down from the peak of 6.9 million — 57 percent — in 2007.
Source: Center for American Progress
10. New Jersey was tied for second with New York for the largest share of immigrants in their overall population in the U.S. in 2013.
California was first (27 percent), New York and New Jersey each had 22 percent), and Florida and Nevada had 19 percent each.
Source: Migration Policy Institute.
11. New Jersey had the fifth-largest numerical growth in the immigrant population between 2000 and 2013.
Texas was first (1.5 million), followed by California (1.4 million), Florida (1.3 million), New York (515,000) and New Jersey (449,000).
Source: Migration Policy Institute.
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12. In 2012, 61 percent of the foreign-born population lived in the West and the South.
In the 1960s, 70 percent of the immigrant population lived in the Northeast and Midwest.
Source: Center for American Progress
13. Nearly half of the undocumented population has minor children, many of them born in the United States.
In 2012, 4.7 million undocumented adults were parents of minor children, including 3.8 million whose children were U.S. citizens.
Source: Center for American Progress
14. About 7.5 percent of births in the U.S. annually are to undocumented immigrants.
Under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, all persons born in the U.S. automatically become U.S. citizens, regardless if one or both of their parents are citizens. There are an estimated 4.5 million children under age 18 who received this “birthright citizenship.”
Source: Pew Hispanic Center
15. There are almost 1 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, adult immigrants in the U.S.
The estimated 904,000 LGBT adult immigrants are more likely to be young and male compared with the overall immigrant population.
Source: Center for American Progress