Where Do Most Immigrants In The United States Come From?

1.  How Many Immigrants are There Living In the US?

As of 2016, the United States had the largest immigrant population in the world in terms of absolute numbers, with 48 million immigrants. This accounts for approximately 19.3% of the global population of 245 million international migrants and 14.5% of the U.S. population.

2.  How Many Undocumented Immigrants Are There In The US?

As per 2012 estimates, the United States had approximately 11.7 million undocumented immigrants residing within its borders. This group makes up roughly 3.7 percent of the entire U.S. population and 5.2 percent of the country's workforce. The significant presence of undocumented immigrants in the labor force is due to the fact that most of them are working-age adults.

3.  Are Quite Recent Immigrants Hispanic Or Latino?

According to recent data, it is a misconception that the majority of immigrants in the United States are Hispanic or Latino. In fact, less than half 47% of all immigrants fall under this category. Immigrants consist of about 19.5% non-Hispanic whites, 9% black, and 26.5% Asian or other ethnicities/races. The majority of unauthorized immigrants in the United States are Latino, primarily from Mexico and Central America. Undocumented immigrants come from various regions including Asia, South America, Europe, Canada, and the Caribbean.

4.  How Much Of An Economic Contribution Do Immigrants Make?

One way to measure immigrants' economic contribution in the US is by analyzing their earnings and business income as a percentage of the country's overall income. Between 2009 and 2012, immigrants accounted for around 14.8% of the total output in the United States, which is higher than their 14% share of the population.

Immigrants impact the US economy significantly as they're more likely to be employed and concentrated among prime working ages. Although immigrants only account for 14% of the population, they make up 17% of the workforce. Many immigrants are business owners, and the percentage of immigrant workers who own small businesses is slightly higher than that of U.S.-born workers. Approximately 19% of small business owners in the United States are immigrants.

5.  Do The Majority Of Immigrants Work In Low-Paying Jobs?

In the United States, there are a significant number of immigrants working in white-collar jobs, almost as many as in all other occupations combined. In some states, more than 51 percent of immigrants work in white-collar jobs. Not all white-collar jobs pay well, and the percentage of U.S.-born workers in these jobs is even higher. Contrary to common perception, not all immigrants work in low-wage jobs. This is evident from their level of education as well. Although immigrants are less likely to have attended college compared to native-born citizens, 47% of immigrants have at least some college education.

Immigrants' representation in certain jobs may differ, but the difference between U.S. and foreign-born shares is not as extreme as assumed. Immigrants are well-represented in high-wage jobs and play a significant role in many middle-wage jobs. For instance, 32% of computer software developers and 23% of dental, nursing, and health aides are immigrants, which is much higher than their 17% share of the labor force. Immigrants are present across all economic levels, including low-wage jobs, despite overrepresentation.

6.  Are Immigrants Generally Poor?

According to national and state-level data, the income of immigrant families is comparable to that of non-immigrant families, despite individual earnings being typically lower for immigrants. This can be attributed to the fact that immigrant families tend to have a higher number of workers per household. About 21% of immigrants in the US live below the poverty line, despite the majority not being impoverished. This percentage is slightly higher than the 17% of native-born citizens living below the poverty line.

7.  Do Immigrants Replace American Employees From Their Professions?

Economists agree that immigration has a slightly positive long-term impact on native-born workers' labor market outcomes. Debate continues on whether immigration may negatively affect certain subgroups, such as low-educated native-born workers. Immigration may reduce short-term native employment, but not long-term employment rates based on research.

This may be due to the time it takes for the economy to adjust to new immigration. It is important to note that the extent of this effect is influenced by the economic environment. During economic growth, new immigration can create jobs for native-born workers in the short run, without harming their net employment. During economic downturns, new immigration has a slightly negative impact on the employment of native-born workers in the short term.

8.  Immigration Reform Would Be Extremely Beneficial To the United States

The United States could greatly benefit from an immigration system that is more in tune with broader economic conditions. Currently, our immigration system for legal immigrant flows is not responsive to the business cycle. Congress set a fixed limit on legal immigrants for work, regardless of labor market conditions. For instance, in 2011, the unemployment rate in the construction industry was over 21%, yet the Department of Labor still granted thousands of temporary foreign worker visas for this industry.

To address this issue, it is recommended that an independent federal agency be established to assess the U.S. labor market and provide annual recommendations to Congress on the levels of permanent and temporary immigrant labor required. This would enable the U.S. economy to better respond to the needs of employers during economic expansions while avoiding an oversupply of additional workers during periods of high unemployment.