Report: Immigrant Pop. Hit Record 42.4 Million, 13.3 Percent of U.S. Pop. in 2014

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The immigrant population in the U.S. hit a record high 42.4 million in July 2014, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by the Center for Immigration Studies.

In a report obtained in advance by Breitbart News, CIS highlights new data about the foreign-born population (both legal and illegal) revealed in the 2014 American Community Survey (ACS). The report is authored by Steven Camarota, CIS’ director of research, and Karen Zeigler, the organization’s demographer.

According to CIS’ findings, the number of immigrants in the U.S. jumped by 2.4 million since July 2010 and the growth in immigrant population is “accelerating.” While the annual immigrant population averaged 430,000 people annually between 2010 and 2012, from 2012 to 2013 the immigrant population great 520,000 and 1.04 million from 2013 to 2014.

Overall, the report notes, immigrants made up 13.3 percent of the population in the U.S. in 2014, the highest percentage in more than a century. CIS compared that level to immigrants’ 6.2 percent share of the population in 1980. The Census Bureau projects that the immigrant share of the population will reach its highest level in history in 2023, at 14.8 percent and continue to increase through 2060 if current admissions levels continue.

Further, CIS adds, between 2010 and 2014, 5.4 million new immigrants settled in the U.S.

“Since the Great Recession began in 2007, at least 8.7 million new immigrants have settled in the country,” the CIS report reads. “New arrivals are offset by those who return to their home countries each year and by mortality. As a result, growth in the immigrant population is less than the number who enter.”

As of 2010, the counties of origin with the highest percentage increase in the number of immigrants in the U.S. were Saudi Arabia, which saw an increase of 93 percent. Bangladeshi immigrants increased 37 percent, Iraqi increased 36 percent, Egypt was up 25 percent and Pakistan, India, and Ethiopia all increased by 24 percent.

Mexico, meanwhile, had the greatest number of its people living in the U.S. with 11.7 million Mexicans living in the U.S. in 2014, growing 130,000 from 2013 to 2014 after experiencing a decline from 2010 to 2013. While the number of Mexican immigrants increased the number of immigrants from the Europe and Canada declined over the previous five years.

An earlier CIS report released in August, looking at the immigrant population based on the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), found that the immigrant population during the second quarter of this year was 42.1 million.

Other findings from the report include:

-The states with the largest numerical increases in the number of immigrants from 2010 to 2014 were Texas (up 380,000), California (up 362,000), Florida (up 315,000), New York (up 168,000), New Jersey (up 116,000), Virginia (up 95,000), Maryland (up 87,000), Pennsylvania (up 83,000), Massachusetts (up 77,000), Arizona (up 63,000), Washington (up 59,000), Georgia (up 52,000), and Minnesota (up 50,000). 

-The states with the largest percentage increases in the number of immigrants 2010 to 2014 were North Dakota (up 45 percent); Wyoming (up 42 percent); Montana (up 19 percent); Kentucky (up 15 percent); New Hampshire (up 14 percent); Minnesota (up 13 percent); West Virginia (up 13 percent); Louisiana, Utah, Nebraska, Idaho, and Delaware (all up 12 percent); and Pennsylvania (up 11 percent). 

-In addition to immigrants, there were 16.2 million U.S.-born minor (<18) children with at least one immigrant parent in 2014, for a total of 58.6 million immigrants and their children. Immigrants and their minor children now account for more than one in six U.S. residents. 

-The sending regions with the largest numerical increases in the number of immigrants living in the United States since 2010 were East Asia (up 642,000), South Asia (up 594,000), Sub-Saharan Africa (up 282,000), the Middle East (up 277,000), the Caribbean (up 269,000), and Central America (up 268,000). 

-The sending countries with the largest numerical increases in the number of immigrants living in the United States since 2010 were India (up 426,000), China (up 353,000), the Dominican Republic (up 119,000), El Salvador (up 101,000), Guatemala (up 85,000), Pakistan (up 72,000), Colombia (up 70,000), Cuba (up 68,000), Honduras (up 66,000), Iraq (up 57,000), and Bangladesh (up 56,000). 

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