Percentage Of Immigrants in US Highest in 100 Years

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Percentage of immigrants in U.S. is at highest in 100 years
Bill in U.S. House would make illegal presence criminal
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, December 13, 2005


WASHINGTON

Immigration —legal and illegal — has accelerated, pushing the percentage of the U.S. population born in other countries to the highest point in nearly 100 years.

There are 35.2 million foreign-born people living in the United States — about 12.1 percent of the population, according to a report yesterday by the Center for Immigration Studies.

The report comes as the House prepares to take up a bill to curb illegal immigration by increasing border security and requiring workplace enforcement of immigration laws.

About 7.9 million people moved to the United States in the past five years, the highest five-year period of immigration on record, according to the report, which is based on the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey from March.

If the trend continues, immigrants will soon make up an even larger portion of the population than they did during the last immigration boom, at the beginning of the 20th century, the report said.

"The 35.2 million immigrants living in the country in March 2005 is the highest number ever recorded — two-and-a-half times the 13.5 million during the peak of the last great immigration wave in 1910," said the report by Steven Camarota, the center's research director.

The center advocates tougher policies on illegal immigration and favors attracting immigrants with needed job skills.

The report estimates that there are about 9.7 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. Other estimates range from 9 million to 13 million.

The report's estimate of the overall number of immigrants living in the U.S. is consistent with other analyses. Experts say that it is hard to accurately measure the number of people entering the U.S. each year.

A recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center found that immigration peaked about 2000, then dipped in 2002 and 2003. Nevertheless, Jeffrey Passel, a research associate at the Pew Hispanic Center, said that immigration levels remained high, compared with historical levels.

Audrey Singer, an immigration fellow at the Brookings Institution, said, "There's no doubt that we are at a high in immigration to the United States." Singer said that immigrants are attracted by economic opportunities and social ties to people already living in the United States.

"Look at places where people come from, these are places with very limited economic opportunities," Singer said.

Mexico is the largest source of immigrants to the United States, followed by East Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, according to the report.

A divided House Judiciary Committee approved a bill last week that would enlist military support in border surveillance and set new mandatory minimum sentences on smugglers and people convicted of re-entry after removal. Illegal presence in the country, now a civil offense, would become a federal crime.

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Mexico is the largest source of immigrants to the United States, followed by East Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Central America and South America, according to the report.

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This is one statement that kind of proves my point about requiring anyone applying for citizenship to learn English. Look at where A LOT of our immigrants come from--East Asia, Europe, etc.--and I've NEVER been asked to PRESS 2 FOR ARABIC or GERMAN. It's ONLY SPANISH. There is just something wrong with this picture.