Immigration Statistics USA

With the level of immigration into the US increasing with time and in various forms and through various channels, it has become imperative for the Americans to make the national security measures all the more strict and strong.

In this regard, the Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS), located within the Policy Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maintains immigration statistics to monitor and assess the effects of immigration on the country's security.

Some of the important statistical information on immigration to the US are:

1) Migration: Immigration and Emigration to the US by decade: 1901-90:

Emigration: Immigration and Emigration by Decade: 1901-90(Numbers in thousands)
Period	Immigrants to the U.S.	Emigrants from the U.S.	Net Immigration	Ratio: Emigration/ Immigration
Total, 1901-90	37,869	11,882	25,987	0.31
1981-90	7,338	1,600	5,738	0.22
1971-80	4,493	1,176	3,317	0.26
1961-70	3,322	900	2,422	0.27
1951-60	2,515	425	2,090	0.17
1941-50	1,035	281	754	0.27
1931-40	528	649	-121	1.23
1921-30	4,107	1,685	2,422	0.41
1911-20	5,736	2,157	3,579	0.38
1901-10	8,795	3,008	5,787	0.34
Source: 1992 Statistical Yearbook , Table 1; Warren and Kraly, The Elusive Exodus: Emigration from the United States , Population Reference Bureau, 1985. Emigration 1981-90, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

The above table shows the trend of immigration to and emigration from the USA, in the time period 1901-90. The table clearly shows that historically the US has been more popular a country for people to enter and stay rather than flee. The only exception has been the decade of 1930s when more people fled the country owing to the plight caused by the Great Depression.

2) Top ten sending countries as a percentage of the total inflow, by country of birth:

1986

2004

Origin country	Number
Total	601,708
Mexico	66,533
Philippines	52,558
Republic of Korea	35,776
Cuba	33,114
Viet Nam	29,993
India	26,227
Dominican Republic	26,175
China (excluding Taiwan)	25,106
Jamaica	19,595
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	16,505
All other countries	270,126

(Source: Migration Information Source)

Origin country	Number
Total	946,142
Mexico	175,364
India	70,116
Philippines	57,827
China, People's Republic	51,156
Vietnam	31,514
Dominican Republic	30,492
El Salvador	29,795
Cuba	20,488
Korea	19,766
Colombia	18,678
Other countries	440,946

The above table (compared years are 1986, 1996, and 2004 as latest available) shows the pattern of immigration to the US by various foreign nationals. While Mexico dominates the immigrant communities (despite various attempts being made by the American authorities by means of anti-immigration laws), India and China have a raised position in the latest figures of 2004 in terms of immigration, which clearly shows that these two countries are front-runners at the moment as far as immigration to the US is concerned. Other observations include: Iranians' reduced immigration after the 1980s after the US-Iran relation deteriorated, and Russians' increased immigration in the mid-1990s following the formal termination of the Cold War.

3) Foreign born as a percentage of the total population, 1990 and 1994 to 2005

Country	1990	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
United States	7.9	9.0	9.3	9.3	9.7	9.8	9.7	10.9	11.4	11.5	11.7	11.9	12.1

(Source: Migration Information Source)

This table shows the percentage of foreign-born population in the US. The figure clearly illustrates that the percentage of people of foreign origin in the US is clearly increasing (the comparable years are 1990 and 1994-2005).