According to new data published by the non-partisan Center for Immigration Studies, the fastest growing blocks of immigrants aren't crossing the Rio Grande. They're flying in from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Last year, the United States' foreign-born population hit a record 42.4 million immigrants; an increase of 2.4 million from July 2010 and a figure that is on track to exceed 51 million by 2023. While people coming in from Canada and Europe decreased slightly, people arriving from East Asia, South Asia, and Sub-Sahara Africa were up more than 280,000 per year after a slow period following the Great Recession.
Mexicans still make up the largest immigration population in the U.S. - 11.7 million legal and non-legal residents - but large increase percentage-wise predominately came from Middle Eastern countries, primarily Saudi Arabia (up 93 percent); Iraq (up 36 percent); Egypt (up 25 percent); and Pakistan (up 24 percent).
"Since the Great Recession began in 2007, at least 8.7 million new immigrants have settled in the country," the survey read. "New arrivals are offset by those who return to their home countries each year and by mortality. As a result, growth in the immigrant population is less than the number who enter."
The survey comes at a time when immigration reform, and how it divides Republicans and Democrats, begins to affect the 2016 presidential election.
One in five voters says their ideal presidential candidate shares similar view on immigration, according to a Gallup poll release Sept. 9. About 21 percent of registered voters surveyed said all undocumented immigrants should be deported while 18 percent said they should be allowed to work towards becoming citizens.
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