Immigration to the United States

in New York Harbor Due to its history the United States can be described as an immigration country. American immigration history can be viewed in four epochs: the colonial period, the mid-19th century, the start of the 20th century, and post-1965. Each period brought distinct national groups, races, and ethnicities to the United States. Colonial period During the 17th century, more than 170,000 English people migrated to the modern United States. From 1700 to 1775, between 350,000 and 500,000 Europeans immigrated: estimates vary in sources. Regarding English settlers of the 18th century, one source says 52,000 English migrated during the period of 1701 to 1775, although this figure is likely too low. 400,000–450,000 of the 18th-century migrants were Scots, Scots-Irish from Ulster, Germans, Swiss, and French Huguenots. Over half of all European immigrants to Colonial America during the 17th and 18th centuries arrived as indentured servants. From 1770 to 1775 (the latter year being when the American Revolutionary War began), 7,000 English, 15,000 Scots, 13,200 Scots-Irish, 5,200 Germans, and 3,900 Irish Catholics migrated to the Thirteen Colonies. According to Butler (2000), up to half of English migrants in the 18th century may have been young, single men who were well-skilled, trained artisans, like the Huguenots. Based on scholarly analysis, English was the largest single ancestry in all U.S. states at the time of the first census in 1790, ranging from a high of 82% in Massachusetts to a low of 35.3% in Pennsylvania, where Germans accounted for 33.3%. Origins of immigrant stock in 1790 The Census Bureau published preliminary estimates of the origins of the colonial American population by scholarly classification of the names of all White heads of families recorded in the 1790 census in a 1909 report entitled A Century of Population Growth. Historians estimate that fewer than one million immigrants moved to the United States from Europe between 1600 and 1799. These statistics do not include the 17.8% of the population who were enslaved, according to the 1790 census. Early United States era in 1902 The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited naturalization to "free white persons"; it was expanded to include black people in the 1860s and Asian people in the 1950s. The 1794 Jay Treaty provided freedom of movement for Americans, British subjects, and Native Americans into British and American jurisdictions, Hudson's Bay Company land excepted. The treaty is still in effect to the degree that it allows Native Americans born in Canada (subject to a blood quantum test) to enter the United States freely. In the early years of the United States, immigration (not counting the enslaved, who were treated as merchandise rather than people) was fewer than 8,000 people a year, The Emergency Quota Act was enacted in 1921, limiting immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere by national quotas equal to 3 percent of the number of foreign-born from each nation in the 1910 census. The Act aimed to further restrict immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, particularly Italian, Slavic, and Jewish people, who had begun to enter the country in large numbers beginning in the 1890s. Origins of immigrant stock in 1920 The National Origins Formula was a unique computation which attempted to measure the total contributions of "blood" from each national origin as a share of the total stock of White Americans in 1920, counting immigrants, children of immigrants, and the grandchildren of immigrants (and later generations), in addition to estimating the colonial stock descended from the population who had immigrated in the colonial period and were enumerated in the 1790 census. European Americans remained predominant, although there were shifts toward Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe from immigration in the period 1790 to 1920. The formula determined that ancestry derived from Great Britain accounted for over 40% of the American gene pool, followed by German ancestry at 16%, then Irish ancestry at 11%. The restrictive immigration quota system established by the Immigration Act of 1924, revised and re-affirmed by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, sought to preserve this demographic makeup of America by allotting quotas in proportion to how much blood each national origin had contributed to the total stock of the population in 1920, as presented below: immigrants working on a farm in 1909; the welfare system was practically non-existent before the 1930s and the economic pressures on the poor were giving rise to child labor.|alt=Several Polish immigrant workers, some of which are children, are seen standing in their fields after picking berries. Immigration patterns of the 1930s were affected by the Great Depression. In the final prosperous year, 1929, there were 279,678 immigrants recorded, The slopes of the tops of the differently-colored columns show the rate of percent increase in foreign-born people living in the respective countries. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act, abolished the system of national-origin quotas. By equalizing immigration policies, the act resulted in new immigration from non-European nations, which changed the ethnic demographics of the United States. In the 1980s, this accelerated as the Federal government of the United States encouraged the immigration of engineers, mathematicians, and scientists from Asia, particularly India and China, to help support STEM-related endeavors in the country. Skilled immigration from these countries was strengthened through the Immigration Act of 1990. The National Academy of Sciences has supported U.S. policymakers to design legislation that attracts foreign mathematicians, engineers and scientists to emigrate to the United States. In 1986 president Ronald Reagan signed immigration reform that gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants in the country. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, and over one million persons were naturalized as U.S. citizens in 2008. The per-country limit nevertheless, China, India, and Mexico were the leading countries of origin for immigrants overall to the United States in 2013, regardless of legal status, according to a U.S. Census Bureau study. Over 1 million immigrants were granted legal residence in 2011. For those who enter the US illegally across the Mexico–United States border and elsewhere, migration is difficult, expensive and dangerous. Participants in debates on immigration in the early 21st century called for increasing enforcement of existing laws governing illegal immigration to the United States, building a barrier along some or all of the Mexico-U.S. border, or creating a new guest worker program. Through much of 2006 the country and Congress was engaged in a debate about these proposals. few of these proposals had become law, though a partial border fence had been approved and subsequently canceled. In January 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending entry to the United States by nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries. It was replaced by another executive order in March 2017 and by a presidential proclamation in September 2017, with various changes to the list of countries and exemptions. The orders were temporarily suspended by federal courts but later allowed to proceed by the Supreme Court, pending a definite ruling on their legality. Another executive order called for the immediate construction of a wall across the U.S.–Mexico border, the hiring of 5,000 new border patrol agents and 10,000 new immigration officers, and federal funding penalties for sanctuary cities. The "zero-tolerance" policy was put in place in 2018, which legally allows children to be separated from adults unlawfully entering the United States. This is justified by labeling all adults that enter unlawfully as criminals, thus subjecting them to criminal prosecution. The Trump Administration also argued that its policy had precedent under the Obama Administration, which had opened family detention centers in response to migrants increasingly using children as a way to get adults into the country. However, the Obama Administration detained families together in administrative, rather than criminal, detention. Other policies focused on what it means for an asylum seeker to claim credible fear. To further decrease the amount of asylum seekers into the United States, Attorney General Jeff Sessions released a decision that restricts those fleeing gang violence and domestic abuse as "private crime", therefore making their claims ineligible for asylum. These new policies that had been put in place were controversial for putting the lives of the asylum seekers at risk, to the point that the ACLU sued Jeff Sessions along with other members of the Trump Administration. The ACLU claimed that the policies put in place by the Trump Administration undermined the fundamental human rights of those immigrating into the United States, specifically women. They also claimed that these policies violated decades of settle asylum law. In April 2020, President Trump said he will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration to the United States because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Biden administration policies In January 2023, regarding the Mexico–United States border crisis, Joe Biden announced a new immigration policy that would allow 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela but will also expel the migrants from those countries who violate US laws of immigration. The policy has faced criticism from "immigration reform advocates and lawyers who decry any expansion of Title 42." In fiscal year 2022, over one million immigrants (most of whom entered through family reunification) were granted legal residence, up from 707,000 in 2020. Border Security and Asylum Reform in the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 The 2024 Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act represents a change in the immigration system with a focus on strengthening border security and improving asylum processes. This bill, backed by both Republican senators and endorsed by President Biden seeks to address the surge in border crossings in the U.S. Mexico border by revolutionizing how migrants and asylum seekers are processed by border authorities. More specifically, asylum officers to consider certain bars to asylum during screening interviews, which were previously only considered by immigration judges. The legislation aims to streamline provisions for effective management. The proposed law introduces an asylum procedure in the U.S. Border, where asylum officers from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can review asylum applications at a more rapid pace. This new process, called removal proceedings, is detailed in a new section of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) specifically Section 235B. The bill sets a bar for passing an asylum screening by requiring a "reasonable possibility" standard instead of the previous "credible fear" standard. Requiring more evidence at the preliminary screening stages at the same level needed for a full hearing. Notably excluded apprehended individuals between ports of entry from asylum eligibility except under narrow exceptions. This adjustment makes it more difficult for asylum seekers to qualify for a hearing in front of an immigration judge and has raised questions in regards to potential violations against the right to seek asylum and due process. Furthermore, the legislation establishes an emergency expulsion authority that empowers the branch to expel migrants and asylum seekers during times of " extraordinary migration circumstances." When the seven-day average of encounters between ports of entry exceeds 2,500, the restrictions come into effect. The restrictions continue until the average falls below 1,500 for 14 consecutive days. If this occurs the DHS Secretary can promptly send migrants back to their home country unless they can prove they face a risk of persecution or torture. The proposed legislation involves around $18.3 billion in funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to carry out the border policies and changes in the asylum process. Moreover, it designates $2.3 billion to support arrived refugees through the "Refugee and Entrant Assistance" program. It introduces a program for repatriation enabling asylum seekers to go to their home countries at any point during the proceedings. The proposed legislation also contains clauses that do not affect the humanitarian parole initiatives of the Biden administration, for individuals from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. These individuals are granted approval to travel and a temporary period of parole in the United States. Origins of the U.S. immigrant population, 1960–2016 Note: "Other Latin America" includes Central America, South America and the Caribbean. ; Refugee numbers with Afghans being evacuated on a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 plane during the fall of Kabul in 2021 According to the Department of State, in the 2016 fiscal year 84,988 refugees were accepted into the US from around the world. In the fiscal year of 2017, 53,691 refugees were accepted to the US. There was a significant decrease after Trump took office; it continued in the fiscal year of 2018 when only 22,405 refugees were accepted into the US. This displays a massive drop in acceptance of refugees since the Trump Administration has been in place. On September 26, 2019, the Trump administration announced that it planned to allow only 18,000 refugees to resettle in the United States in the 2020 fiscal year, its lowest level since the modern program began in 1980. In 2020 the Trump administration announced that it planned to slash refugee admissions to U.S. for 2021 to a record low of 15,000 refugees down from a cap of 18,000 for 2020, making 2021 the fourth consecutive year of declining refugee admissions under the Trump term. The Biden administration pledged to welcome 125,000 refugees in 2024. == Contemporary immigration ==

in 2007 , approximately half of immigrants living in the United States are from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Until the 1930s most legal immigrants were male. By the 1990s women accounted for just over half of all legal immigrants. The estimated population of illegal Mexican immigrants in the US decreased from approximately 7 million in 2007 to 6.1 million in 2011 Commentators link the reversal of the immigration trend to the economic downturn that started in 2008 and which meant fewer available jobs, and to the introduction of tough immigration laws in many states. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the net immigration of Mexican born persons had stagnated in 2010, and tended toward going into negative figures. The share of international job seekers looking to work in the U.S. declined sharply in 2025 as per a report from Indeed. The slowing labor market and stricter immigration policy beginning with the Biden administration and accelerating under President Trump has led to further cooling demand for American jobs. More than 80 cities in the United States, Economic austerity dictated by neoliberal policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund and its ally, the U.S., has also been cited as a driver of the dire social and economic conditions, as has the U.S. "war on drugs", which has been understood as fueling murderous gang violence in the region. Another major migration driver from Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) are crop failures, which are (partly) caused by climate change. Half of the people which are migrating from Latin America to the United States are from the Dry Corridor (El Corredor Seco) - a climatic zone that stretches through Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras suffering from different climate change impacts resulting in a flow of climate migrants to the United States. In 2007-2017 alone, immigration from the region to the US grew by a quart, and the trend is expected to continue, as far as climate change will continue to make the region drier and hotter. Climate change is crucial to understand migration from there as it have an impact on a variety of socioeconomic "push factors". Changes in climate patterns are part of the causes which make Mexicanes migrate as within so outside the country. In 2008–2021, 2.2 million Mexicans were displaced for reasons linked with climate change. Origin countries • Before 2021, Americas included both North (inc. Central and Caribbean region) and South America. Source: US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics Charts == Demography ==

Extent and destinations in New York City, c. 1900 in New York City • 2010, 2017, 2018 The United States admitted more legal immigrants from 1991 to 2000, between ten and eleven million, than in any previous decade. In the most recent decade, the 10 million legal immigrants that settled in the U.S. represent roughly one third of the annual growth, as the U.S. population increased by 32 million (from 249 million to 281 million). By comparison, the highest previous decade was the 1900s, when 8.8 million people arrived, increasing the total U.S. population by one percent every year. Specifically, "nearly 15% of Americans were foreign-born in 1910, while in 1999, only about 10% were foreign-born". In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of immigrants (second-generation Americans) in the United States, accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population. While immigration has increased drastically over the 20th century, the foreign-born share of the population is, at 13.4, only somewhat below what it was at its peak in 1910 at 14.7%. A number of factors may be attributed to the decrease in the representation of foreign-born residents in the United States. Most significant has been the change in the composition of immigrants; prior to 1890, 82% of immigrants came from North and Western Europe. From 1891 to 1920, that number decreased to 25%, with a rise in immigrants from East, Central, and South Europe, summing up to 64%. Animosity towards these ethnically different immigrants increased in the United States, resulting in much legislation to limit immigration in the 20th century. Origin Foreign-born population in the United States in 2019 by country of birth Views of immigrants Religion In the 2023-2024 Religious Landscape Survey carried out by Pew Research Center among those born outside the United States 58% identified as Christian, 14% as being from other religions and 26% said they were unaffiliated. == Effects of immigration ==

in 2006|alt=Mexican immigrants are seen protesting for more rights in San Jose.Immigration to the United States significantly increases the population. The Census Bureau estimates that the US population will increase from 317 million in 2014 to 417 million in 2060 with immigration, when nearly 20% will be foreign-born. In particular, the population of Hispanic and Asian Americans is significantly increased by immigration, with both populations expected to see major growth. Changing demographics as a result of immigration have affected political affiliations. Immigrants are more likely than natives to support the Democratic Party. Immigrants have not been found to increase crime in the United States, and immigrants overall are associated with lower crime rates than natives. Some research even suggests that increases in immigration may partly explain the reduction in the U.S. crime rate. According to one study, sanctuary cities—which adopt policies designed to not prosecute people solely for being an illegal immigrant—have no statistically meaningful effect on crime. Research suggests that police practices, such as racial profiling, over-policing in areas populated by minorities and in-group bias may result in disproportionately high numbers of immigrants among crime suspects. Research also suggests that there may be possible discrimination by the judicial system, which contributes to a higher number of convictions for immigrants. Crimmigration has emerged as a field in which critical immigration scholars conceptualize the current immigration law enforcement system. Increased immigration to the United States has historically caused discrimination and racial unrest. Areas with higher minority populations may be subject to increased policing though affirmative action policies may cause colleges to favor minority applicants. Evidence also shows the existence of racial discrimination in the housing market and the labor market. Discrimination also exists between different immigrant groups. Immigration has been found to have little impact on the health of natives. Researchers have also found what is known as the "healthy immigrant effect", in which immigrants in general tend to be healthier than individuals born in the U.S. A significant proportion of American scientists and engineers are immigrants. Graduate students are more likely to be immigrants than undergraduate students, as immigrants often complete undergraduate training in their native country before immigrating. 33% of all U.S. PhDs in science and engineering were awarded to foreign-born graduate students as of 2004. Economic impact High-skilled immigration and low-skilled immigration have both been found to make economic conditions better for the average immigrant and the average American. The overall impact of immigration on the economy tends to be minimal. A 2026 white paper by the Cato Institute found that from 1994 to 2023, contributions by immigrants through taxation and economic activity exceeded the cost of services used by immigrants on an annual and cumulative basis. The study further found that over the entire period, immigrants generated a $14.5 trillion fiscal surplus in 2024 dollars and saved the country $3.9 trillion in interest on the national debt. The paper concludes that immigrants have prevented a fiscal crisis, and that without their impact the national debt would be 205% of GDP, almost double its actual proportion. Overall immigration has not had much effect on native wage inequality but low-skill immigration has been linked to greater income inequality in the native population. Labor unions have historically opposed immigration over economic concerns. Immigrants have also been found to raise economic productivity, as they are more likely to take jobs that natives are unwilling to do. Research indicates that immigrants are more likely to work in risky jobs than U.S.-born workers, partly due to differences in average characteristics, such as immigrants' lower English language ability and educational attainment. Refugees have been found to integrate more slowly into the labor market than other immigrants, but they have also been found to increase government revenue overall. Immigration has also been correlated with increased innovation and entrepreneurship, and immigrants are more likely to start businesses than people born in The United States. Undocumented immigrants have also been found to have a positive effect on economic conditions in the United States. According to NPR in 2005, about 3% of illegal immigrants were working in agriculture, and the H-2A visa allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary agricultural jobs. States that imposed harsher immigration laws were found to suffer significant economic losses. In May 2024, research conducted at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City suggested that immigration to the United States surged during 2022–2023 and the inflow of migrants to the country acted as a powerful catalyst in cooling overheated labor markets and tempering wage growth across industries and states. The study showed that from Dec 2021 to Dec 2023 there existed a negative correlation between an industry's migrant employment growth and wage growth: an increase in migrant employment growth of 1 percentage point lead to a 0.7 percentage point reduction in wage growth. It was found that an increase in employment growth, stemming from migrant workers, of 1 percentage point lead to a 0.5 percentage point reduction in job vacancy rates. == Public opinion ==

The largely ambivalent feeling of Americans toward immigrants is shown by a positive attitude toward groups that have been visible for a century or more, and much more negative attitude toward recent arrivals. For example, a 1982 national poll by the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut showed respondents a card listing a number of groups and asked, "Thinking both of what they have contributed to this country and have gotten from this country, for each one tell me whether you think, on balance, they've been a good or a bad thing for this country", which produced the results shown in the table. "By high margins, Americans are telling pollsters it was a very good thing that Poles, Italians, and Jews immigrated to America. Once again, it's the newcomers who are viewed with suspicion. This time, it's the Mexicans, the Filipinos, and the people from the Caribbean who make Americans nervous." In March 2015, another Gallup poll provided insight into American public opinion on immigration; the poll revealed that 39% of people worried about immigration "a great deal". A January poll showed that only 33% of Americans were satisfied with the current state of immigration in America. Before 2012, a majority of Americans supported securing United States borders compared to dealing with illegal immigration in the United States. In 2013, that trend has reversed and 55% of people polled by Gallup revealed that they would choose "developing a plan to deal with immigrants who are currently in the U.S. illegally". Changes regarding border control are consistent across party lines, with the percentage of Republicans saying that "securing U.S. borders to halt flow of illegal immigrants" is extremely important decreasing from 68% in 2011 to 56% in 2014. Meanwhile, Democrats who chose extremely important shifted from 42% in 2011 to 31% in 2014. In July 2013, 87% of Americans said they would vote in support of a law that would "allow immigrants already in the country to become U.S. citizens if they meet certain requirements including paying taxes, having a criminal background check and learning English". However, in the same survey, 83% also said they would support the tightening of U.S. border security. Donald Trump's campaign for presidency focused on a rhetoric of reducing illegal immigration and toughening border security. In July 2015, 48% of Americans thought that Donald Trump would do a poor job of handling immigration problems. In November 2016, 55% of Trump's voters thought that he would do the right thing regarding illegal immigration. In general, Trump supporters are not united upon how to handle immigration. In December 2016, Trump voters were polled and 60% said that "undocumented immigrants in the U.S. who meet certain requirements should be allowed to stay legally". After Trump claimed during his 2024 presidential campaign that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country", a Public Religion Research Institute survey showed that 34% of Americans agreed, and 35% agreed that "immigrants are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background". American opinion regarding how immigrants affect the country and how the government should respond to illegal immigration have changed over time. In 2006, out of all U.S. adults surveyed, 28% declared that they believed the growing number of immigrants helped American workers and 55% believed that it hurt American workers. In 2016, those views had changed, with 42% believing that they helped and 45% believing that they hurt. The PRRI 2015 American Values Atlas showed that between 46% and 53% of Americans believed that "the growing number of newcomers from other countries ... strengthens American society". In the same year, between 57% and 66% of Americans chose that the U.S. should "allow [immigrants living in the U.S. illegally] a way to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements". In February 2017, the American Enterprise Institute released a report on recent surveys about immigration issues. In July 2016, 63% of Americans favored the temporary bans of immigrants from areas with high levels of terrorism and 53% said the U.S. should allow fewer refugees to enter the country. In November 2016, 55% of Americans were opposed to building a border wall with Mexico. Since 1994, Pew Research center has tracked a change from 63% of Americans saying that immigrants are a burden on the country to 27%. The Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy was reacted to negatively by the public. One of the main concerns was how detained children of illegal immigrants were treated. Due to very poor conditions, a campaign was begun called "Close the Camps". Detainment facilities were compared to concentration and internment camps. After the 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan in August 2021, an NPR/Ipsos poll (±4.6%) found 69% of Americans supported resettling in the United States Afghans who had worked with the U.S., with 65% support for Afghans who "fear repression or persecution from the Taliban". There was lower support for other refugees: 59% for those "fleeing from civil strife and violence in Africa", 56% for those "fleeing from violence in Syria and Libya", and 56% for "Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty". 57% supported the Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy, and 55% supported legalizing the status of those illegally brought to the U.S. as children (as proposed in the DREAM Act). Religious responses Religious figures in the United States have stated their views on the topic of immigration as informed by their religious traditions. • Catholicism – Due to persecution abroad, Catholics comprised the largest group of migrants to the U.S. during the mid-19th and early-20th centuries. As a result of the large immigrant population within the Church, as well as anti-Catholic sentiment within the U.S., the Catholic church organized resources to support recently arrived immigrants. While the rate of Catholic migration has slowed, the Church has largely remained supportive of humanitarian migration due to biblical principals. In 1988, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops established the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) to help meet the increased demand for legal assistance following major immigration reform. CLINIC is now the largest nonprofit immigration law organization in the U.S. In 2018, Catholic leaders stated that asylum-limiting laws proposed by the Trump administration were immoral. Some bishops considered imposing sanctions (known as "canonical penalties") on church members who have participated in enforcing such policies. Some liberal denominations place more emphasis on the welcoming of immigrants, while Conservative, Orthodox and Independent rabbis also consider economic and security concerns. Some provide moral arguments for both the right of country to enforce immigration standards as well as for providing some sort of amnesty for illegal migrants. == Legal issues ==

, a document confirming permanent resident status for eligible immigrants, including refugees, political asylum seekers, family-sponsored migrants, employment-based workers, and diversity immigrants Laws concerning immigration and naturalization include the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT), the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA), the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), the Naturalization Act of 1790, the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924. AEDPA and IIRARA exemplify many categories of criminal activity for which immigrants, including green card holders, can be deported and have imposed mandatory detention for certain types of cases. The Johnson-Reed Act limited the number of immigrants and the Chinese Exclusion Act banned immigration from China altogether. Refugees are able to gain legal status in the United States through the asylum process laid out in Title 8 of the United States Code, Sections 1157 and 1158. Under U.S. law, the term refugee refers to an individual who applies for asylum prior to entering the U.S., while the term asylum seeker refers to an individual who applies for asylum after entering the U.S. The number of refugees admitted annually under Section 1157 is determined by the President, in consultation with Congress. In 2014, the number of asylum seekers accepted into the U.S. was about 120,000. By comparison, about 31,000 were accepted in the UK and 13,500 in Canada. Asylum offices in the United States receive more applications for asylum than they can process every month and every year, and these continuous applications cause a significant backlog. Removal proceedings are considered administrative proceedings under the authority of the United States Attorney General, and thus part of the executive branch rather than the judicial branch of government. Eligibility may depend on time spent in the United States, criminal record, or family in the country. Members of Congress may submit private bills granting residency to specific named individuals. The United States allows immigrant relatives of active duty military personnel to reside in the United States through a green card. As of 2015, there are estimated to be 11 to 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States, making up about 5% of the civilian labor force. Under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, unauthorized immigrants that arrived as children were granted exemptions to immigration law. According to an August 2025 Pew Research Center report, the unauthorized immigrant population grew by 3.5 million between 2021 and 2023, reaching a record 14 million. Most immigration proceedings are civil matters, though criminal charges are applicable when evading border enforcement, committing fraud to gain entry, or committing identity theft to gain employment. Due process protections under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution have been found to apply to immigration proceedings, but those of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution have not due to their nature as civil matters. In Department of State v. Muñoz, the U.S. Supreme court decided that U.S. citizens do not have a fundamental liberty to admit their foreign spouses. On January 14, 2026 the State Department announced it was suspending visa processing for 75 nations including Somalia, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Brazil, Nigeria, and Thailand. == Immigration in popular culture ==

magazine criticized businessmen for welcoming large numbers of low-paid immigrants, leaving the American men unemployed. Regarding Irish women in the 19th century, there were numerous novels and short stories by Harvey O'Higgins, Peter McCorry, Bernard O'Reilly and Sarah Orne Jewett that emphasize emancipation from Old World controls, new opportunities and expansiveness of the immigrant experience. Fears of population decline have at times fueled anti-emigration sentiment in foreign countries. Hladnik studies three popular novels of the late 19th century that warned Slovenes not to migrate to the dangerous new world of the United States. In India some politicians oppose emigration to the United States because of a supposed brain drain of highly qualified and educated Indian nationals. Jewish American writer Anzia Yezierska wrote her novel Bread Givers (1925) to explore such themes as Russian-Jewish immigration in the early 20th century, the tension between Old and New World Yiddish culture, and women's experience of immigration. A well established author Yezierska focused on the Jewish struggle to escape the ghetto and enter middle- and upper-class America. In the novel, the heroine, Sara Smolinsky, escapes from New York City's "down-town ghetto" by breaking tradition. She quits her job at the family store and soon becomes engaged to a rich real-estate magnate. She graduates college and takes a high-prestige job teaching public school. Finally Sara restores her broken links to family and religion. The Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg, in the mid-20th century, wrote a series of four novels describing one Swedish family's migration from Småland to Minnesota in the late 19th century, a destiny shared by almost one million people. The author emphasizes the authenticity of the experiences as depicted (although he did change names). These novels have been translated into English (The Emigrants, 1951, Unto a Good Land, 1954, The Settlers, 1961, The Last Letter Home, 1961). The musical Kristina från Duvemåla by ex-ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson is based on this story. The Immigrant is a musical by Steven Alper, Sarah Knapp, and Mark Harelik. The show is based on the story of Harelik's grandparents, Matleh and Haskell Harelik, who traveled to Galveston, Texas in 1909. == Documentary films ==

In their documentary How Democracy Works Now: Twelve Stories, filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini examine the American political system through the lens of immigration reform from 2001 to 2007. Since the debut of the first five films, the series has become an important resource for advocates, policy-makers and educators. == Overall approach to regulation ==

was a common sight to many immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island. University of North Carolina School of Law professor Hiroshi Motomura has identified three approaches the United States has taken to the legal status of immigrants in his book Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States. The first, dominant in the 19th century, treated immigrants as in transition; in other words, as prospective citizens. As soon as people declared their intention to become citizens, they received multiple low-cost benefits, including the eligibility for free homesteads in the Homestead Act of 1862, and in many states, the right to vote. The goal was to make the country more attractive, so large numbers of farmers and skilled craftsmen would settle new lands. By the 1880s, a second approach took over, treating newcomers as "immigrants by contract". An implicit deal existed where immigrants who were literate and could earn their own living were permitted in restricted numbers. Once in the United States, they would have limited legal rights, but were not allowed to vote until they became citizens, and would not be eligible for the New Deal government benefits available in the 1930s. The third policy is "immigration by affiliation", originating in the later half of the 20th century, which Motomura argues is the treatment which depends on how deeply rooted people have become in the country. An immigrant who applies for citizenship as soon as permitted, has a long history of working in the United States, and has significant family ties, is more deeply affiliated and can expect better treatment. The American Dream is the belief that through hard work and determination, any American can achieve a better life, usually in terms of financial prosperity and enhanced personal freedom of choice. According to historians, the rapid economic and industrial expansion of the U.S. is not simply a function of being a resource rich, hard working, and inventive country, but the belief that anybody could get a share of the country's wealth if he or she was willing to work hard. This dream has been a major factor in attracting immigrants to the United States. == See also ==