America may be seen as the “land of opportunity” and, for this reason, many people immigrate to our nation each year in hopes of obtaining a brighter, more prosperous future. In fact, the past 16 years has seen a great increase in immigrants coming to the United States. Louisville residents may be surprised to hear that, according to one report, the number of immigrants in our country has surpassed 43 million. Moreover, if you count children born in the United States to immigrants that number is greater than 60 million. To put it another way, almost one-fifth of America’s population is made up of immigrants.
A director for the Center for Immigration Studies has stated that the enormous number of people immigrating to the United States has a significant impact on the country’s society. This includes impacts on our nation’s workforce, schools, infrastructure, medical centers and there is also an environmental impact. While the report did not differentiate between documented and undocumented immigrants, there are approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants currently in our nation.
Also, according to the report, from 2010 to 2016 over eight million individuals immigrated to the United States. The largest number of immigrants in 2016 came from Mexico. In fact, from 2010 to 2016, 1.1 million individuals immigrated to the United States from Mexico. This accounts for one out of every eight immigrants. However, due to natural deaths and those who leave the United States and go back to Mexico, the current Mexican-born population did not go up during that timeframe.
Immigrants in the United States have many hopes and dreams and, for most of them, one of these dreams is to obtain U.S. permanent residency. However, it is important to keep in mind that the path toward becoming a U.S. citizen is not always straightforward. For this reason, many immigrants choose to work with an immigration attorney, so that no crucial step is overlooked.
Source: The Washington Examiner, “US immigration population hits record 60 million, 1-of-5 in nation,” Paul Bedard, Oct. 16, 2017
