Ruth Ellen Wasem
Specialist in Immigration Policy
This report is a chart book of selected immigration trends that touch on the main elements of comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). Most policymakers agree that the main issues in CIR include increased border security and immigration enforcement, improved employment eligibility verification, revision of legal immigration, and options to address the millions of unauthorized aliens residing in the country. The report offers snapshots of time series data, using the most complete and consistent time series currently available for each statistic. The key findings and elements germane to the data depicted are summarized with the figures. The summary offers the highlights of key immigration trends.
The United States has a history of receiving immigrants, and these foreign-born residents of the United States have come from all over the world.
- Immigration to the United States today has reached annual levels comparable to the early years of the 20th century.
- Immigration over the last few decades of the 20th century was not as dominated by three or four countries as it was earlier in the century, and this pattern has continued into the 21st century.
- The number of foreign-born residents in the United States is at its highest level in U.S. history, reaching 40 million in 2010.
- Foreign-born residents of the United States made up 12.9% of the U.S. population in 2010, approaching levels not seen since the proportion of foreignborn residents reached 14.8% in 1910.
Legal immigration encompasses permanent immigrant admissions (e.g., employment-based or family-based immigrants) and temporary nonimmigrant admissions (e.g., guest workers, foreign students). The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) contains the provisions detailing the requirements for admission (permanent and temporary) of foreign nationals and the eligibility rules for foreign nationals to become U.S. citizens.
- In FY2011, 1.1 million aliens became U.S. legal permanent residents (LPRs). Of this total, nearly 65% entered on the basis of family ties.
- The pool of people potentially eligible to immigrate to the United States as LPRs each year typically exceeds the worldwide level set by the INA.
- Most of the 4.4 million approved petitions pending at the close of FY2012 were family members of U.S. citizens.
- After falling from 7.6 million in FY2001 to 5.0 million in FY2004, temporary visa issuances reached 7.5 million in FY2011.
- Generally, all of the temporary employment-based visa categories have increased since FY1994. Although there was a dip during the recent recession, the number of employment-based temporary visas increased in FY2010 and FY2011.
Immigration control encompasses an array of enforcement tools, policies, and practices to secure the border and to prevent and investigate violations of immigration laws. The INA specifies the
grounds for exclusion and removal of foreign nationals as well as the documentary and entry-exit controls for U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.
- U.S. State Department denials of petitions for LPR visas have increased in recent years, and prior removals from the United States or past illegal presence in the United States has become the leading ground of inadmissibility.
- U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions of foreign nationals between ports of entry fell to a 40-year low of 327,577 in FY2011.
- The number of employers enrolled in the E-Verify employment eligibility verification system grew from 5,900 at the close of FY2005 to 418,000 by the end of FY2012. These data indicate that approximately 7% of U.S. employers were participating by the close of FY2012.
- A total of $10.5 million in administrative fines was imposed on employers who engaged in unlawful employment in FY2011—a figure that exceeds the level of total fines imposed over the entire period from FY2000 through FY2009.
- Formal removals grew from 30,039 in 1990 to 391,953 in FY2011.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identifies many more potentially removable aliens than it arrests (i.e., places in removal proceedings).
- The number of criminal aliens removed from the United States increased from 73,298 in FY2001 to 188,382 in FY2011.
The three main components of the unauthorized resident alien population are (1) aliens who enter the country surreptitiously without inspection, (2) aliens who overstay their nonimmigrant visas, and (3) aliens who are admitted on the basis of fraudulent documents.
- Estimates based on the March Supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) indicate that the unauthorized resident alien population rose from 3.2 million in 1986 to 12.4 million in 2007, before leveling off at 11.1 million in 2011.
- The latest estimates indicated that 33% of the 11.5 million unauthorized resident aliens in 2011 had entered from 2000 to 2010.
For those who seek more complete analyses of the issues, this report cites Congressional Research Service (CRS) products that discuss the policies underlying the data presented in each of the figures.
Date of Report: March 7, 2013
Number of Pages: 24
Order Number: R42988
Price: $29.95
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