Immigrants
Immigration in the United States.
What is an Immigrant?
An Immigrant is a person who has citizenship in one country but enters a different country to set up a permanent residence. To be considered an immigrant you would have to have citizenship in another country and go to a different country with the intentions of living there.
A legal immigrant is someone who enters a different country with the intentions of living there while first receiving the proper visa and clearance to enter the new country and settle. An illegal or undocumented citizen is the same but they do not receive a proper clearance.
The first Immigrants in the U.S
The first Immigrants to come to America were actually pilgrims in the early 1600s. The pilgrims that came here were not looking for what most immigrants look for. They were looking for religious freedom.
Between 1820 and 1930 about 4.5 million Irish migrated to the United States. America also received about 5 million German immigrants. Most of them wanted to buy farms and start their own businesses. During the mid-1800s a large number of Asian immigrants came to America because they were lured by news of the California Gold rush.
What is the President doing about Immigration?
- There are approximately 11 million immigrants that are living in the shadows which is not good for the economy or our country. The president has a plan to build a better immigration system which consists of a smart, effective system that continues efforts to secure our borders and breaks down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.
- The plan requires all undocumented immigrants to pay taxes and a penalty, learn english, and receive background checks before they can be eligible of gaining citizenship. It also requires all businesses and every worker to play by the same set of rules.
Immigration Facts.
- In 1892 the country's first federal Immigration station opened which is called Ellis Island.
- The countries of origin of today's immigrants are more diverse than they were 50 years ago. In the 1960s a full 75 percent of the foreign-born population that resided in the united states came from Europe.
- Immigration has been a constant source of economic vitality throughout our nation's history. In 2012 the foreign-born population consisted of 40.7 million people. This past decade saw a significant increase in the foreign-born population. Between 2000 and 2012 there was a 31.2 percent increase in the foreign-born population.
- In 2012 there was 11.6 million foreign-born residents, 28 percent came from Mexico, 2.3 million came from China, 2 million came from India, 1.9 million came from the Phillipines, 1.3 million came from both Vietnam and El Salvador, and 1.1 million came from both Cuba and Korea.