Migration The Numbers

Resources on Migration Office of Immigration StatisticsOffice of Immigration Statistics, (DHS) publishes the Yearbook of Immigration StatisticsYearbook of Immigration Statistics U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Migration Policy Institute Migration Policy Institute (U. of Minn.) International Organization for Migration

Basic Data About 2.5% of the world’s population at any one time is living outside their country of birth How many people today? 45% live in MDCs, 55% live in LDCs

Migrant Population as Percent of Total Population United Arab Emirates90% Saudi Arabia25% Australia25% Canada15% France10% United States 8% Argentina 5%

Historic Migrations The most dramatic migration in history has been the movement of 60 million Europeans to the rest of the world, mostly North and South America, Australia, southern Africa. Historically young men made up the majority of migrants; today, migrants seeking work are 50% female.

The European “Diaspora” Of the total 60 million Europeans who migrated from Europe in the 500 years since Columbus million went to the U.S.

The U.S.: A Nation of Immigrants About 65 million have migrated to the United States since 1820, including the 25 million currently alive.

Two Eras of Immigration First: from 1700s to 1930s Second: from 1960s to present

The First Era Before 1840s, 90% of the European immigrants were from Great Britain

Three Great Waves 1840 – 1860: 4 million people arrived (2x the previous total) Most from North and West Europe, 40% from Ireland Immigration slowed down during and shortly after the Civil War

Second Wave 1880s-1890s 500,000 people annually migrated to U.S. Origin North and Western Europe, mostly Germans (ultimately the largest group of European immi- grants) and Scandinavia, plus Irish, and a growing # from Eastern Eur.

Third Wave 1900 – million people/year for 15 years Record year: million Origin shifted to Eastern and Southern Europe: Poles, Czechs, Austria, Hungary, Italy, etc. Jewish and Catholic

At the Peak In 1910, 13 million U.S. residents were born outside U.S. or one of their parents was born outside the U.S. 14% of U.S. population at the time. In New York, approximately 80 languages were spoken.

Depression and War In 1930s, more return migration than immigration WWII limited but didn’t stop immigration Baby boom of 1950s

The Second Era 1960s – present U.S. population has been growing at about 2.3 – 2.5 million per year since 1960s Origin of immigrants has shifted to Asia and Latin America Gateway city today is Los Angeles: 80 different languages spoken at home.