While Indigenous peoples predated Europeans in the region by thousands of years, colonial settlers mainly came from Britain and Western Europe, some of whom brought, or bought, enslaved Africans. Later waves brought Irish, German, and Chinese immigrants in the mid-19th century, followed by a large influx from southern and Eastern Europe between 1880 and 1920. Immigration slowed afterward due to restrictive laws that set quotas based on national origin.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ended the national-origins quota system that favored Europeans, allowing more immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America—an outcome its own sponsors did not predict. Immigration is the main driver of US population growth, accounting for 84% of the nation's increase from July 2023 to July 2024. Immigrants generated about $1.7T in economic activity in 2023. As of June 2025, 51.9 million immigrants lived in the United States, representing 15.4% of the total population.
Enforcement of immigration laws today mainly falls to the Department of Homeland Security and its subagencies—Customs and Border Protection, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement—which use physical barriers, deportations, and interior enforcement to regulate immigration. Today, individuals can legally immigrate to the United States through family sponsorship or employment-based visas, or by seeking asylum or refugee status. Immigration has become a key issue in US politics after record border encounters from 2021 to 2024, followed by aggressive enforcement policies during President Donald Trump's second term.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
This interactive timeline tracks the development of US immigration law, overlaid with time-series data on percentages of the foreign-born population. Explore how each major policy development correlated with immigration levels, revealing the relationship between legislation and demographic change.
In January 2025, the US reached a historic high of 53.3 million immigrants—nearly 16% of the population. By June of that year, the number had fallen by more than a million, ending 50 years of continuous growth in the immigrant population.
This visualization tracks the top country of birth among US immigrants by state from 1850 to the present, revealing a dramatic shift from European-dominated immigration to today's prominence of Mexican and Indian immigrants.
Read about pivotal immigration legislation from the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act—the first law restricting immigration by nationality—through DACA, examining how economic conditions, national security concerns, and social attitudes shaped American immigration policy throughout history.
This economic output surpasses their 14.3% share of the US population, and their labor force participation rate of nearly 67% is higher than the approximately 62% rate for US-born workers.
This comprehensive guide outlines various routes to US immigration, including family-sponsored and employment-based visas, as well as humanitarian protections. Navigate the complex American immigration system and understand the options available to prospective immigrants seeking legal entry.
In this podcast episode, journalists reporting from Minneapolis describe ICE enforcement actions, street protests, and community fallout—offering firsthand accounts of how immigration crackdowns are unfolding in the Midwestern city.
The act, signed in 1882, barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States, marking the first significant restriction on free immigration. This overview examines 19th-century Chinese immigration, rising anti-Chinese sentiment, and the diplomatic implications of exclusionary legislation.
The Johnson-Reed Act established stringent national-origin quotas favoring northern and Western Europeans while restricting immigration from other regions. This article chronicles the act's origins, its implications, and subsequent efforts to overturn these restrictions.
Following decades of citizens pressing for reform, President Johnson signed legislation abolishing national-origin quotas, enabling increased immigration from Asia and Africa. The LBJ Presidential Library features photos, videos, audio clips, and text from the 1965 signing ceremony.
Become informed on key topics that help you participate in the world around you