Vincent James of The Red Elephants
Immigration to the United States
The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding such issues as maintaining ethnic homogeneity, workers for employers versus jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, crime, and voting behavior.
Prior to 1965, policies such as the national origins formula limited immigration and naturalization opportunities for people from areas outside Western Europe. Exclusion laws enacted as early as the 1880s generally prohibited or severely restricted immigration from Asia, and quota laws enacted in the 1920s curtailed Eastern European immigration. The civil rights movement led to the replacement of these ethnic quotas with per-country limits. Since then, the number of first-generation immigrants living in the United States has quadrupled.
- Place of birth for the foreign-born population in the United States
| Top ten countries | 2015 | 2010 | 2000 | 1990 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 11,643,298 | 11,711,103 | 9,177,487 | 4,298,014 |
| China | 2,676,697 | 2,166,526 | 1,518,652 | 921,070 |
| India | 2,389,639 | 1,780,322 | 1,022,552 | 450,406 |
| Philippines | 1,982,369 | 1,777,588 | 1,369,070 | 912,674 |
| El Salvador | 1,352,357 | 1,214,049 | 817,336 | 465,433 |
| Vietnam | 1,300,515 | 1,240,542 | 988,174 | 543,262 |
| Cuba | 1,210,674 | 1,104,679 | 872,716 | 736,971 |
| Dominican Republic | 1,063,239 | 879,187 | 687,677 | 347,858 |
| South Korea | 1,060,019 | 1,100,422 | 864,125 | 568,397 |
| Guatemala | 927,593 | 830,824 | 480,665 | 225,739 |
| All of Latin America | 21,224,087 | 16,086,974 | 8,407,837 | |
| All Immigrants | 43,289,646 | 39,955,854 | 31,107,889 | 19,767,316 |
Source: 1990, 2000 and 2010 decennial Census and 2015 American Community Survey.
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