A Demographic and Social Profile of Immigrants in the United States

Plus, Global Destinations for Asylum Seekers and Canada's Top Immigrant Admission Class

One of the Data Hub's most popular tools — our national and state-level profile of the foreign born in the United States — is also one of our most useful and in-depth offerings. The data tool draws on the most recent one-year estimates of the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), examining four sets of immigration characteristics in the United States (demographic and social, language and education, workforce, and income and poverty). And, it also provides 1990 and 2000 decennial Census data, giving a handy snapshot of how immigration has evolved.

This month we present fact sheets with 2010 ACS data on the "Demographic and Social Characteristics" of immigrants, which include analysis on top countries of birth for the US foreign born, US citizenship status, racial and ethnic breakdown, geographic mobility on a statewide and nationwide level, and more. The fact sheets also include data on the US-born population.

Here are some topline facts you will find:
* While Latin America was the top region of origin for immigrants nationally, in 14 states Asia was the top sending region. Close to 40 million immigrants resided in the United States in 2010, with most emigrating from Latin America. Latin America was the main origin region of immigrants in 35 states, including California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.

Asia was the top sending region of immigrants residing in 14 states, including Hawaii, Alaska, Virginia, and Washington. Interestingly, the top origin for immigrants in Maine changed from Northern America (mostly Canada) to Asia between 2009 and 2010.

In contrast, the largest share of immigrants residing in Montana and Vermont came from Europe.

* Immigrants were overrepresented among the working-age population. In 2010, the foreign born in the United States made up 13 percent of the US population but 17 percent among the working-age population (ages 18-54). Immigrants' share among California's working-age population was twice as high as on a national level (35 percent vs. 17 percent, respectively). It was also high (one-quarter or more) in New Jersey, New York, Nevada, and Florida. At the other end of the spectrum were West Virginia, Montana, and Mississippi. In these states, immigrants accounted for less than 3 percent of the working-age population.

* Immigrant sex ratios can vary significantly state by state. While the sex ratio of the foreign born was nearly equal in the nation overall, a number of states saw notable differences. Women accounted for a greater share in Montana (64 percent), Maine (58 percent), and Hawaii (57 percent), whereas immigrant men outnumbered women in South Dakota (58 percent), Louisiana (56 percent), and South Carolina (54 percent).

* Some 30 percent of children under 18 in low-income families were children of immigrants. Children of immigrants accounted for nearly one-third of the 30.6 million children under 18 in low-income families (those below 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold, which varies by family composition and family size). Children in low-income families were more likely to be from immigrant families today than in past decades, when they accounted for 26 percent of those in low-income families in 2000 and 17 percent in 1990.

The remaining fact sheets on the foreign born in the United States — detailing language and education, workforce, and income and poverty characteristics — will be updated in the coming months. To get started, visit the 2010 ACS/Census tool and select the state of your choosing (or click on the small map of the United States if you want national data).

GRAPH OF THE MONTH
Global Destinations for Asylum Seekers
According to the most recent United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Global Trends 2010 Report, South Africa received the largest number of new asylum applications in 2010 — more than 180,600 — one-fifth of the roughly 845,800 applications worldwide. The United States and France were a distant second and third with 54,300 and 48,100 asylum applications, respectively. Other important destinations for asylum seekers were Germany, Sweden, and Ecuador.

Top Recipient Countries of New Asylum Applications* in 2010
















Note: *Excludes appeal/review claims.
Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Global Trends 2010 Report.

Click here for a table showing the number of new asylum applications received annually by a select group of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries between 1980 and 2010.


DATA QUIZ
Canada and the United States are both countries with long histories of immigration. But how similar are their immigrant admission systems — in terms of structure and emphasis? Roughly two-thirds of new permanent residents in the United States immigrated because of family ties. As for Canada, which group is the largest: family immigrants, economic immigrants, or refugees? Find your answer here.


HAVE YOU READ...
Diverse Streams: African Migration to the United States
By Randy Capps, Kristen McCabe, and Michael Fix
Black African immigrants represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the US immigrant population, increasing by about 200 percent during the 1980s and 1990s and by 100 percent during the 2000s. This report finds African immigrants generally fare well on integration indicators, with college completion rates that greatly exceed those for most other immigrant groups and US natives. Despite higher levels of human capital, high employment rates, and strong English skills, African immigrants' earnings lag those of the native born.


The Development and Fiscal Effects of Emigration on Mexico
By Raymundo Campos-Vazquez and Horacio Sobarzo
The economic consequences of emigration on migrants' countries of origin have long been studied, yet the precise assessment of positive and negative impacts remains complex. This analysis finds that when the labor market effects and household income benefits of remittances are compiled into a model of the Mexican economy, Mexico's fiscal balance appears to benefit from emigration – its GDP rising by 8.8 percent and tax collection by 7.4 percent.

HAVE YOU SEEN US ON TV?
Your Data Hub team was incredibly excited to see that the Data Hub made "The Colbert Report" the other day! Okay, comedian Stephen Colbert takes awhile to get to the Data Hub, but we were justifiably proud to see our work and logo flash up on the screen! Watch it here.

On behalf of the MPI Data Hub team, thank you for your interest in and support of the Data Hub.





Data Manager and Policy Analyst
Migration Policy Institute
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