Surprising Truth About Where US Immigrants Are Coming From

Monday, August 31, 2015

A group of U.S. servicemembers were part of a group of 125 immigrants that received their citizenship on Liberty Island in New York City Oct. 28, 2011. (DoD photo by Sgt Randall Clinton, U.S. Marine Corps via Flickr)

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More than one in 10 people living in the United States right now was born in another country. Of the 41 million immigrants in the U.S., most come from Mexico, our neighbor to the south.

However, when you take out Mexico out of the equation, a more diverse picture emerges.

Data scientist Giorgio Cavaggion used 2012 data from the Department of Homeland Security to make a map illustrating the most common country of origin for immigrants in the United States.

Of the 1,031,631 people who became legal permanent residents, known as “green card holders”, in 2012, 146,406 came from Mexico.

But what about the rest?

People born in India pop up in 19 U.S. states, five states have more immigrants from the Philippines and five others from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Many of the immigrants from countries like Myanmar, Bhutan, Iraq and Somalia are political refugees who’ve been granted political asylum.

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