Total immigration to the United States – including both legal and illegal – tied an all-time record high in 2016, according to the latest data published by the Center for Immigration Studies.
A total of 1.75 million new legal immigrants and illegal aliens settled in the United States that year alone, tying the record high first set in 1999. The 2016 total was also up from1.62 million new immigrants who arrived in 2015.
“The dramatic increase in new immigrants settling in the United States in recent years is primarily driven by the nation’s generous legal immigration system, both long-term temporary visa holders (e.g. guest workers and foreign students) and new permanent residents (green cards),” explained CIS Research Director Steve Camarota.
The number of immigrants stemming from Latin America, both legal and illegal,doubled from about 335,000 in 2011 to 668,000 in 2016, surging past Asia as the top-sending region for U.S.-bound immigrants in the world.