When you think of immigration it is likely about the multitude of illegal immigrants battering the barriers at the south or remaining in the country after a legal visit or stay, but one nation is sending more immigrants to the United States than any other country.
Recent census statistics reveal that when you count only legal immigrants, those who go through the correct processes and policies, the nation of China sends more migrants to the United States than any other. According Breitbart, these immigrants come for the freedoms offered by the US and to escape the increasingly intrusive and controlling conditions in their home nation.
The latest Census Bureau data confirms that China is the single largest source of foreign born immigrants to the United States. This counts legal migrants who arrived in the nation by following all rules and embracing our culture. This is a change from just a decade ago. According to the census, in 2006, legal migrants were overwhelmingly from Mexico. In that year, there were more legal immigrants from Mexico than from China, India and Canada combined.
Those numbers have dramatically shifted, and in 2019, China displaced Mexico as the largest source of legal foreign born immigrants. This is not entirely new; the nation of China has sent the most immigrants to the United States since 2010, when all years are considered.
India has also surpassed Mexico when it comes to legal immigration; the nation has sent more immigrants to the United States than Mexico in the years from 2010-2019. These immigrants are largely white collar, educated workers – opposed to the heavily blue collar migrants arriving from the south.
1.2 million immigrants are legal admitted into the United States each year. Because of their legal status, these new arrivals can work, will pay taxes, and are expected to adhere to the nation’s laws. This shift in legal migration has also led to a shift in culture in the United States. Many of these legal migrants have gravitated towards working in technology, shifting the makeup of several regions in the United States. Chinese immigration passed Mexican (legal) immigration in California in 2015. Every year since, many of these legal immigrants headed to Silicon Valley. Migrants from India also head towards the nation’s technology centers, particularly in California and the Northeast.
Despite the new arrivals, white collar wages still increased for all by 3.2 percent. Tightening of borders and more attention paid to preventing illegal immigration led to a greater raise in salary for blue collar workers, who saw a 4.3 percent wage jump last year.
The new statistics reflect an influx of legal immigrants (over 10 million people) in the years between 2008 and 2018; many of these new arrivals came via the chain migration process, where a naturalized citizen can invite an unlimited number of family members to the USA.
The shift in immigration also highlights the continued demand for technology workers, skilled white collar workers, and the abundant opportunity the nation has for those who go through the process legally.
