Immigration and Stratification the United

Immigration and Stratification

The United States of America is a nation made up of immigrants. Over the years the nation has allowed millions of immigrants to come and make new lives. Over the past two centuries immigration levels have risen and dropped in response to the opinion of the American public; sometimes liberally and sometimes restrictively. In the 21st century, according to the Department of Homeland Defense's 2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, the United States has since 2005 permitted a little more than a million legal immigrants per year to enter the country. In 2011, for example, 1,062,040 legal immigrants entered America. (2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics")

On the other hand it is very difficult to estimate the numbers of illegal immigrants to come to America. Because they live in the shadows, use a cash economy, and do not usually involve themselves in the census, it is difficult for government statisticians to calculate exactly how many are currently in the U.S. But by using roundabout measures, and some scientific assumptions, the American government does have a pretty good idea of their numbers. According to the same yearbook the estimated number of illegal immigrants actually dropped from 11.6 million in 2010 to 11.5 million in 2011, a decrease of close to one hundred thousand.("2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics")

3. In 2011 the United States allowed more than a million immigrants to legally enter the United States from a variety of nations. With this in mind, the greatest number of legal immigrants came from the following ten nations (ranked highest to lowest): Mexico, China, India, Philippines, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Vietnam, Korea, Haiti and Jamaica. While the U.S. may have had a drop in illegal immigration, it doesn't mean that there have been no immigrants entering illegally. What it does mean is that the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. is less than the number leaving. And according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the nations from where the most illegal immigrants came from were Highest to lowest) Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Philippines, India, Ecuador, Brazil, Korea, and China. ("2011 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics")