Immigration numbers
In the United States, immigration policies and requirements have changed throughout the years. Now, as
thousands of Latin Americans try to enter the U.S. seeking haven, policies are changing yet again. In our
history, U. S. public opinion was sometimes in favor of immigration and sometimes against it. There are
mixed feeling now. The issues of how to feed, educate, house and offer human services to an everincreasing population are the present concerns. But isn’t America supposed to be the land of opportunity
and a melting pot of nationalities?
My great grandfather emigrated to the U.S. from Russia in about 1890. He left Russia to escape
conscription in what had become a brutal term of service for Jews in the Russian Army. When he landed
in New York he passed the requirements of residency and was permitted to live in the United States for
the period of time required to become a naturalized citizen.
Even though my ancestor immigrated to the U.S. I am not called an immigrant. An immigrant is someone
that was born in another country and has permanently moved to a new country. I was born in the U.S.
In 1776 the United States of America was formed from the 13 original colonies. The United States has
grown tremendously since then and immigration was often encouraged as the land that was occupied
grew and labor and trades people were needed. The U.S. became a melting pot of many nations and
heritages.
These are some of the numbers that I’ve found.
Decade
1821 - 1830
1831 - 1840
1841 - 1850
1851 - 1860
1861 - 1870
1871 - 1880
1881 - 1890
1891 - 1900
1901 - 1910
1911 - 1920
1921 - 1930
1931 - 1940
1941 - 1950
1951 - 1960
1961 - 1970
1971 - 1980
1981 - 1990
1991 - 2000
2001 - 2010
Number of immigrants
Population in US
143,439
599,125
1,713,251
2,598,214
2,314,825
2,812,191
5,246,613
3,687,564
8,795,386
5,735,811
4,107,209
532,431
1,035,000
2,515,500
3,321,700
4,493,300
7,338,100
9,095,400
10,501,053
12,866,020
17,069,453
23,191,876
31,443,321
38,555,983
50,189,209
62,947,714
76,212,168
92,228,496
106,021,537
122,775,046
132,164,569
150,697,361
179,323,175
203,392,031
226,545,805
248,709,873
281,421,906
308,745,538
1. Describe any observations that you can see from the numbers.
2. What do these numbers make you wonder?
3. What else would you like to find out
Immigration policy has been in the news lately. Teenagers, women with small children, and
unaccompanied children have been making the dangerous trek from Honduras, El Salvador, and
Guatemala to enter the United States illegally through Mexico and find a safe haven. These illegal
immigrants (people coming to live in the US without visas or documents) are traveling 1,500 miles from
and through dangerous gang-ruled places in hopes of being allowed to live in the United States.
4. What do you guess the statistics for the decade 2011 – 2020 will show?
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/timeline.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_immigration_to_the_United_States
http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=MIG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830_United_States_Census
https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/yearbook/2000/Yearbook2000.pdf
http://news.msn.com/us/up-to-dollar1000-a-day-to-care-for-child-migrants-1
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