numbers

Immigration: Facts and Figures

Number and Origin
About 9.1 million legal immigrants came to the United States between 1991 and 2000, exceeding the previous record set in the 1901–1910 period, which was 8.8 million. The top five countries of origin for immigrants to the United States between 1820 and 2002 were Germany, Mexico, Italy, United Kingdom, and Ireland. The top five for 1965 were Canada (38,327), Mexico (37,969), United Kingdom (27,358), Germany (24,045), and Cuba (19,760). For 2002, they were Mexico (219,380), India (71,105), China, People’s Republic (61,282), Philippines (51,308), and Vietnam (33,627).

Demographic Projections
The Census Bureau projects a dramatic change in the composition of U.S. society by the mid-twenty-first century. Their estimate includes an average of 1 million immigrants and 200,000 undocumented aliens entering the country each year for the next five decades. By the mid-twenty-first century, 21% of the population–an estimated 82 million–will be either immigrants who arrived after 1991 or children of those immigrants.
By 2050, Hispanics will number 98.2 million, or 24% of the total population. The Census Bureau projects that African Americans will then number about 53.5 million, or 13%. These are mid-range projections, not high or low estimates. The nation’s Asian and Pacific Islander population will grow to 9% by 2050. Native Americans will have increased to slightly more than 1% of the total. The number of non-Hispanic whites will be 213 million by 2050, or 53% of the population.

Religion
Earlier immigration waves transformed the United States from an exclusively Protestant country into a land of three major faiths: Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant. Latino and Filipino migration may increase the Catholic population from the current one-fourth to one-third by 2050. Migration from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East may increase the Muslim population from 1% of the total to 5%. Projections are that the Jewish population will decline from 2% to 1% and the Protestant population from 54% to 49%; the populations of other religions will increase from 4% to 5%.

SOURCES: US Census Bureau; Vincent N. Parrillo, Diversity in America (Pine Forge Press, Second Edition, 2005); Dr. Jaskiran Mathur, Professor of Sociology, St. Francis College.