Immigration Facts dosomething

1. Immigration Factsdosomething.org • More than 1 million immigrants became legal permanent residents (LPRs) of the United States in 2012. • Of the new U.S. residents, 14 percent came from Mexico, 7.9 percent from China, and 6.4 percent from India. • The immigration process allows priority to foreign nationals who have a close family relationship with a U.S. citizen or LPR, have needed work skills, have refugee or asylee status, or are native of countries with low immigration rates to the U.S. • Every year, more than half of new LPRs are current residents whose status is changed to permanent. • Including orphans, nearly 8 percent of all new LPRs in 2012 were children with immediate relatives as current citizens in the U.S, and 33.2 percent of immigrants were under the age of 25. • Between 2009 and 2012, more than 70 percent of immigrants came from Asia and North America every year. • More than 550,000 LPRs in 2012 were women and more than 600,000 were married individuals. • Immigrants are an essential element of a strong U.S. economy, fulfilling the intrinsic need of the labor force for workers. • By 2026, it is predicted that the government will have a shortage of 20 million workers. • In the U.S., 5 states have become minority-majority, which means that less than half of the population of that state is non-Hispanic white and the minorities combined have become the majority. • For the first time in 2012, the majority of babies under age 1 were black, Hispanic, Asian, or another non-white race.