The number of immigrants living in the United States has reached a record high, a new report has found.
According to the analysis from the
Center for Immigration Studies based on U.S. Census Bureau data, 41.3 million immigrants were in the U.S. in July 2013, a growth of 1.4 million since July 2010. The estimated figures include both legal and illegal residents.
In total, immigrants now comprise 13.1 percent of U.S. population, marking the highest percentage of foreign-born residents in 93 years. In 1980, just 6.2 percent of the population was made up of immigrants.
The fastest growing immigrant populations are from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, the study found. Specifically, between 2010 and 2013 there was a 13 percent growth of migrants from the Middle East totaling 208,000; a 16 percent increase from South Asia for a total of 373,000; and a boost of 13 percent from sub-Saharan Africa equivalent to 177,000 people.
"The new data makes clear that while Latin America and the Caribbean are still a significant source of immigration, the growth is being driven in large part by immigration from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa," said Steven Camarota, director of research at CIS and lead author of the report, according to
CNS News.
Overall, the largest immigrant population in the United States is from Mexico, totaling an estimated 11.6 million legal and illegal residents, but according to the report, the total number of immigrants from Mexico fell by 1 percent from 2010 to 2013.
The state-by-state analysis showed that Texas had the largest increase in the total number of immigrants since 2010, up by 227,240 people. California is in second place at 160,771, followed by Florida at 140,019.
Among the states with the largest percentage increases were North Dakota at 27 percent, West Virginia at 17 percent, and Wyoming at 14 percent.