U.S. Foreign-Born Share Projected to Hit Record Milestone by 2065Fifty years after passage of the landmark constabulary that rewrote U.S. clearing policy, nearly 59 million immigrants have arrived in the United states of america, pushing the country's strange-born share to a near record 14%. For the by half-century, these modernistic-era immigrants and their descendants have accounted for but over half the nation's population growth and have reshaped its racial and indigenous composition.

Looking alee, new Pew Research Centre U.S. population projections show that if current demographic trends continue, future immigrants and their descendants volition be an even bigger source of population growth. Betwixt 2015 and 2065, they are projected to account for 88% of the U.S. population increase, or 103 million people, as the nation grows to 441 1000000.

These are some central findings of a new Pew Research analysis of U.Southward. Census Agency data and new Pew Research U.S. population projections through 2065, which provide a 100-twelvemonth look at clearing's impact on population growth and on racial and ethnic change. In add-on, this report uses newly released Pew Research survey data to examine U.S. public attitudes toward immigration, and it employs census information to analyze changes in the characteristics of recently arrived immigrants and paint a statistical portrait of the historical and 2013 foreign-born populations.

Immigrants and Their Descendants Accounted for 72 Million in U.S. Population Growth from 1965 to 2015; Projected to Account for 103 Million More by 2065

Post-1965 Clearing Drives U.Due south. Population Growth Through 2065

Clearing since 1965 has swelled the nation'southward foreign-built-in population from ix.half-dozen one thousand thousand then to a record 45 million in 2015.1 (The current immigrant population is lower than the 59 1000000 total who arrived since 1965 considering of deaths and departures from the U.Southward.)2 By 2065, the U.S. volition have 78 million immigrants, according to the new Pew Research population projections.

The nation'due south immigrant population increased sharply from 1970 to 2000, though the rate of growth has slowed since then. Still, the U.S. has—by far—the world'southward largest immigrant population, holding most one-in-5 of the world's immigrants (Connor, Cohn and Gonzalez-Barrera, 2013).

Betwixt 1965 and 2015, new immigrants, their children and their grandchildren accounted for 55% of U.S. population growth. They added 72 one thousand thousand people to the nation's population every bit it grew from 193 one thousand thousand in 1965 to 324 million in 2015.

U.S. Foreign-Born Population Reached 45 Million in 2015, Projected to Reach 78 Million by 2065This fast-growing immigrant population also has driven the share of the U.South. population that is foreign built-in from 5% in 1965 to fourteen% today and will push information technology to a projected record 18% in 2065. Already, today'southward 14% foreign-born share is a near historic record for the U.S., just slightly beneath the 15% levels seen shortly afterward the plow of the 20th century. The combined population share of immigrants and their U.S.-born children, 26% today, is projected to rise to 36% in 2065, at to the lowest degree equaling previous peak levels at the turn of the 20th century.

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Human action made significant changes to U.South. immigration policy by sweeping away a long-standing national origins quota organization that favored immigrants from Europe and replacing information technology with one that emphasized family unit reunification and skilled immigrants. At the time, relatively few anticipated the size or demographic impact of the post-1965 immigration flow (Gjelten, 2015). In absolute numbers, the roughly 59 million immigrants who arrived in the U.South. betwixt 1965 and 2015 exceed those who arrived in the great waves of European-dominated immigration during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Betwixt 1840 and 1889, 14.iii million immigrants came to the U.S., and between 1890 and 1919, an boosted 18.2 meg arrived (see Table i for details).

After the replacement of the nation'south European-focused origin quota arrangement, greater numbers of immigrants from other parts of the globe began to come to the U.S. Among immigrants who have arrived since 1965, half (51%) are from Latin America and 1-quarter are from Asia. By comparison, both of the U.S. immigration waves in the mid-19th century and early 20th century consisted almost entirely of European immigrants.

Latin American and Asian Immigration Since 1965 Changes U.Due south. Racial and Indigenous Makeup

Post-1965 Immigration Wave Reshapes America's Racial and Ethnic Population MakeupEvery bit a issue of its inverse makeup and rapid growth, new immigration since 1965 has altered the nation's racial and indigenous composition. In 1965, 84% of Americans were non-Hispanic whites. By 2015, that share had declined to 62%. Meanwhile, the Hispanic share of the U.Due south. population rose from iv% in 1965 to 18% in 2015. Asians also saw their share rising, from less than ane% in 1965 to 6% in 2015.

The Pew Research analysis shows that without any mail-1965 immigration, the nation's racial and ethnic composition would exist very different today: 75% white, 14% black, eight% Hispanic and less than 1% Asian.

The arrival of so many immigrants slightly reduced the nation's median age, the historic period at which half the population is older and half is younger. The U.S. population's median historic period in 1965 was 28 years, ascension to 38 years in 2015 and a projected 42 years in 2065. Without clearing since 1965, the nation'southward median historic period would have been slightly older—41 years in 2015; without clearing from 2015 to 2065, it would exist a projected 45 years.

Asians Projected to Become the Largest Immigrant Group, Surpassing HispanicsBy 2065, the composition of the nation'southward immigrant population volition change again, co-ordinate to Pew Inquiry projections. In 2015, 47% of immigrants residing in the U.S. are Hispanic, merely as immigration from Latin America, particularly Mexico (Passel, Cohn and Gonzalez-Barrera, 2012), has slowed in recent years, the share of the strange born who are Hispanic is expected to fall to 31% past 2065. Meanwhile, Asian immigrants are projected to brand up a larger share of all immigrants, becoming the largest immigrant group by 2055 and making upward 38% of the foreign-born population by 2065. (Hispanics will remain a larger share of the nation'due south overall population.) Pew Research projections also show that blackness immigrants and white immigrants together will become a slightly larger share of the nation'southward immigrants past 2065 than in 2015 (29% vs. 26%).

The country's overall population will feel the touch on of these shifts. Non-Hispanic whites are projected to become less than half of the U.S. population past 2055 and 46% by 2065. No racial or ethnic group will institute a majority of the U.Southward. population. Meanwhile, Hispanics will run across their population share rise to 24% by 2065 from 18% today, while Asians will see their share rise to 14% by 2065 from 6% today.

Sources of Immigration to the U.S., by Era

From Ireland to Germany to Italy to Mexico: Where Each Country's Largest Immigrant Group Was Born, 1850 to 2013

The U.s. has long been—and continues to be—a key destination for the world'due south immigrants. Over the decades, immigrants from dissimilar parts of the world arrived in the U.South. and settled in different states and cities. This led to the rise of immigrant communities in many parts of the U.S.

The nation's first great influx of immigrants came from Northern and Western Europe. In 1850, the Irish were the largest immigrant group nationally and in nearly E Coast and Southern states. By the 1880s, Germans were the nation's largest immigrant grouping in many Midwestern and Southern states. At the same time, changes to U.S. immigration policy had a great bear on on the source countries of immigrants. In 1880, Chinese immigrants were the largest foreign-born group in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Nevada. But with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Chinese immigrants were prevented from entering the U.Due south. Equally a issue, other immigrant groups rose to become the largest in those states.

By the early 20th century, a new wave of clearing was underway, with a majority coming from Southern Europe and Eastern Europe. By the 1930s, Italians were the largest immigrant grouping in the nation and in nine states, including New York, Louisiana, New Jersey and Nevada.

The composition of immigrants changed again in the post-1965 immigration era. By the 1980s, Mexicans became the nation's largest immigrant group; by 2013, they were the largest immigrant group in 33 states. Just other immigrant groups are represented also. Chinese immigrants are the largest immigrant group in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Indians are the largest immigrant group in New Jersey. Filipinos are the largest immigrant group in Alaska and Hawaii.

For more than, explore our decade-past-decade interactive map feature.

For the U.S. Public, Views of Immigrants and Their Impact on U.Due south. Society Are Mixed

For its part, the American public has mixed views on the impact immigrants take had on American club, according to a newly released Pew Inquiry Center public opinion survey. Overall, 45% of Americans say immigrants in the U.S. are making American society better in the long run, while 37% say they are making it worse (xvi% say immigrants are non having much upshot). The same survey finds that half of Americans want to run across immigration to the U.S. reduced (49%), and 8-in-ten (82%) say the U.S. immigration arrangement either needs major changes or it needs to exist completely rebuilt.

Half Say Immigrants in the U.S. Are Making Crime, the Economy Worse, but Food, Music and the Arts Are BetterThe public's views of immigrants' impact on the U.Southward. vary beyond different aspects of American life. Views are most negative about the economy and crime: Half of U.S. adults say immigrants are making things worse in those areas. On the economy, 28% say immigrants are making things ameliorate, while 20% say they are not having much of an result. On crime, past contrast, just 7% say immigrants are making things improve, while 41% more often than not encounter no positive or negative impact of immigrants in the U.S. on crime.

On other aspects of U.S. life, Americans are more likely to hold neutral views of the impact of immigrants. Some 45% say immigrants are non having much effect on social and moral values, and 56% say they are not having much effect on scientific discipline and applied science. But when information technology comes to food, music and the arts, about half (49%) of adults say immigrants are making things better.

U.S. adults' views on the impact of immigrants on American society likewise differ depending on where immigrants are from. Some 47% of U.S. adults say immigrants from Asia have had a generally positive impact on American society, and 44% say the same about immigrants from Europe. Meanwhile, half of Americans say the bear on of immigrants from Africa has been neither positive nor negative.

European and Asian Immigrants Viewed Most PositivelyNevertheless, Americans are more likely to concur negative views about the impact of immigrants from Latin America and the Middle Eastward. In the instance of Latin American immigrants, 37% of American adults say their affect on American society has been mostly negative, 35% say their impact is neither positive nor negative, and just 26% say their impact on American society has been positive. For immigrants from the Middle East, views are similar—39% of U.S. adults say their impact on American guild has been mostly negative, 39% say their bear on has been neither positive nor negative, and only 20% say their touch has been mostly positive on U.S. lodge.

Many Americans say that immigrants to the U.S. are non assimilating. Two-thirds of adults say immigrants in the U.S. today generally desire to hold on to their home state customs and manner of life, while only about a 3rd (32%) say immigrants want to adopt Americans customs. The survey also finds that 59% of Americans say most recent immigrants do not acquire English within a reasonable amount of time, while 39% say they do.

The nationally representative bilingual survey of 3,147 adults was conducted online using the Pew Research Eye's American Trends Panel from March ten to April six, 2015, before the current national discussion began about national immigration policy, unauthorized immigration and birthright citizenship. The survey has a margin of mistake of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

The Contour of Today'due south Newly Arrived Is Markedly Different than that of New Arrivals in Previous Decades

The Number of Immigrants Coming to the U.S. Peaked in 2005The rewrite of the nation's immigration policy in 1965 opened the door to new waves of immigrants whose origins and characteristics changed substantially over the ensuing decades. As a upshot, newly arrived immigrants in 2013 (those who had been in the U.Southward. for five years or less) differ in fundamental ways from those who were new arrivals in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Overall, the number of newly arrived immigrants peaked in the early on 2000s: Some eight million residents of other countries came to the U.S. between 2000 and 2005. The number of recent arrivals declined afterward that, to nigh 6 million for the years 2008 to 2013, according to a Pew Inquiry Center assay of federal regime data.

Peradventure the near hit change in the profile of newly arrived immigrants is their source region. Asia currently is the largest source region amongst recently arrived immigrants and has been since 2011.iii Before then, the largest source region since 1990 had been Central and South America, fueled past tape levels of Mexican migration that take since slowed. Back in 1970, Europe was the largest region of origin amid newly arrived immigrants. One effect of slower Mexican immigration is that the share of new arrivals who are Hispanic is at its everyman level in l years.

Compared with their counterparts in 1970, newly arrived immigrants in 2013 were better educated but also more probable to exist poor. Some 41% of newly arrived immigrants in 2013 had at least a bachelor'south degree. In 1970, that share was only 20%. On poverty, 28% of contempo arrivals in 2013 lived in poverty, up from 18% in 1970. In addition, fewer of the newly arrived in 2013 were children than among the newly arrived immigrants in 1970—19% vs. 27%.

Nevertheless on several other measures, the characteristics of the newly arrived today are returning to those of the newly arrived in 1970. On gender, 51% of the newly arrived in 2013 were women, compared with 47% in 2000 and 54% in 1970. In terms of geographic dispersion, one-half of new arrivals in 2013 lived in one of iv states: California, Florida, New York or Texas. Well-nigh ii-thirds of new arrivals lived in those four states in 1990, up from a third in 1970. California alone had 38% of recently arrived immigrants in 1990, just the share has since declined, to xviii% in 2013.

Unauthorized Clearing

This report'due south estimates and projections of foreign-born residents in the U.S. comprise both legal and unauthorized immigrants. Withal, the numbers for each status group are non broken out separately except where stated.

In 2014, 11.three million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.Due south., according to the latest preliminary Pew Inquiry estimate (Passel and Cohn, 2015). That guess is essentially unchanged since 2009, as the number of new U.Due south. unauthorized immigrants roughly equals the number who voluntarily exit the state, are deported, convert to legal status or (less unremarkably) dice.

According to Pew Research estimates going back to 1990, this population rose rapidly during the 1990s and peaked in 2007. The number of unauthorized immigrants declined during the recession of 2007-2009 earlier stabilizing. Illegal immigration from Mexico has been the principal factor in these changes in the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population, though Mexicans remain past far the largest unauthorized immigrant group.

For more than Pew Research assay of unauthorized immigration, see here.

Roadmap to the Report

The written report is organized as follows: Chapter 1 provides an overview of the nation's clearing legislation, with a focus on key changes since 1965. It is accompanied by an interactive timeline highlighting U.Southward. immigration legislation since 1790. Chapter 2 explores the affect of post-1965 immigration on the nation's demographics upward to 2015 and provides a look forward at the hereafter impact of clearing with new Pew Research population projections through 2065. Chapter 3 looks at the mail service-1965 flow of immigrants through the lens of the recently arrived, exploring changes in the group's origins and other characteristics. Chapter 4 explores the U.South. public's views of immigration and clearing policy. Chapter 5 provides a statistical portrait of the nation's immigrants from 1960 to 2013 and is accompanied by an online interactive statistical portrait of the foreign born and an online interactive exploring the top country of origin among immigrants in each country from 1850 to 2013. Appendix A explains the report'southward methodology, including for the population projections. Appendix B contains a U.Due south. immigration law timeline. Appendix C includes 1965 to 2065 population tables, and Appendix D contains the survey topline.

"Foreign born" refers to persons born outside of the United States, Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories to parents neither of whom was a U.Due south. denizen. The terms "foreign built-in" and "immigrant" are used interchangeably in this study. Unless otherwise noted, recent arrivals include all the newly arrived regardless of their legal status, that is, both legal immigrants and unauthorized immigrants. Yet, in Pew Research Centre survey data, "immigrant" is defined equally someone born in some other state, regardless of parental citizenship.

"Recent arrivals" or "newly arrived immigrants" refer to foreign-born persons who arrived within 5 years of the census enumeration or date of the survey. Unless otherwise noted, recent arrivals include all the newly arrived regardless of their legal status, that is, both legal and unauthorized immigrants.

"Legal immigrants" are those who have been granted legal permanent residence; those granted asylum; people admitted every bit refugees; and people admitted to the U.Southward. under a set of specific authorized temporary statuses for longer-term residence and work. This group includes "naturalized citizens," legal immigrants who have become U.Due south. citizens through naturalization; "legal permanent resident aliens," who have been granted permission to stay indefinitely in the U.South. as permanent residents, asylees or refugees; and "legal temporary migrants" (including students, diplomats and "high-tech invitee workers"), who are allowed to live and, in some cases, work in the U.S. for specific periods of time (usually longer than one yr).

"Unauthorized immigrants" are all strange-built-in non-citizens residing in the state who are not legal immigrants. This definition reflects standard and customary usage past the U.South. Department of Homeland Security and academic researchers.

Immigrant generations living in the U.South. are as follows: "First generation" refers to the foreign built-in (see above for definition). "Second generation" refers to people born in the U.Southward. who have at least i immigrant parent. "3rd-and-higher generation" refers to people born in the U.South. with U.S.-born parents.

"U.Due south. born" refers to individuals who are U.S. citizens at nascence, including people born in the United States, Puerto Rico or other U.South. territories, as well every bit those born elsewhere to parents who were U.Southward. citizens. The U.S.-born population encompasses the 2nd generation and the third-and-higher generation.

References to all racial groups, including "Other," refer to only non-Hispanics. References to specific racial groups, such as Asians, blacks and whites, include only single-race individuals. Asians do non include Pacific Islanders, unless otherwise noted. Hispanics are of whatever race.

"College completion" refers to those who have completed at least a bachelor's caste. Prior to 1990 information technology refers to those who accept completed at least four years of college.

Persons finishing "some higher" accept finished at least some higher didactics, including those completing associate degrees. Those completing any higher at all, including less than one yr, are designated equally finishing some college.

A "high schoolhouse completer" refers to those who have at least obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent (such every bit a General Educational Evolution document, or GED). Prior to 1990 it refers to those who have completed at least iv years of loftier school.

Throughout this study, the term "Latin America" refers to Central and South America, also equally the Caribbean and United mexican states; references to "Primal and South America" in Affiliate 3 practise not include the Caribbean area, but do include Mexico, unless otherwise noted. In referring to countries of origin, "Due south and East asia" refers to merely those regions, while "Asia" refers to the full continent (see Contempo Arrivals: Data Sources in Appendix A).