Suffice to say that immigrants played a major role in building the United States, and the country has long been the recipient of the refreshing energies and skills brought about by them. Today, 14% of the nation's residents are foreign-born, over half of whom are naturalized citizens. Nearly all Americans are immigrant descendants.
The United States houses more immigrants than any other country around the globe. About 40 million people living in the United States have been born in another country today, accounting for around one-fifth of the world's migrants.
Soon after it achieved independence from Great Britain, the United States began regulating immigration, and the laws since enacted have represented the political and migrant trends of the times. Early laws appeared to enforce restrictions that favored Europeans, but doors were opened to immigrants from other parts of the world by a 1965 law.
• One in seven U.S. residents is an immigrant, while one in eight residents is a U.S. native-born citizen with at least one immigrant parent.
• One in six U.S. workers is an immigrant, making up a crucial portion of the labor force of the nation in a number of industries, resulting in an enriched economy.
• In 2018, 14 percent of the national population was composed of 44.7 million immigrants.
• Mexico (25% of immigrants), India (6 percent), China (5 percent), the Philippines (4 percent), and El Salvador were the top countries of origin for immigrants (3 percent).
All in all, immigrants claim they are very happy with the quality of life for themselves and their children, in the United States. Discrimination towards immigrants does not seem to be part of their everyday lives, and although the majority agree that it exists, the remainder also say that they have not personally encountered any discrimination. The greatest problem for immigrants right now is almost the same as for native-born Americans: their own financial well-being and the economy.