Every day, people all over the world make one of the most difficult decisions of their lives: to leave home in search of a better life. This is called migration, and it’s the reason why immigrants are such a vital part of society.
There were nearly 46.2 million people living in the United States who were either born abroad or had at least one immigrant parent in 2022. As workers, students, business owners, taxpayers and neighbors, they are integral to the country’s diverse and thriving communities. As immigrants, they also bring new energy and ingenuity to the American economy, filling crucial jobs and working hard at a wide range of occupations.
The term “immigrant” is often used to refer to anyone who has left their native country and settled in a different one, but the immigration process is more complex than simply leaving home to move somewhere else. Those who want to live permanently in their new country are called migrants and those who intend to return to their original countries at some point are known as refugees. There are also nonimmigrants who stay in their new homes temporarily, such as those who travel abroad for work or vacation and people on certain types of temporary visas.
Most people who move between countries do so for a variety of reasons, including seeking economic or political opportunities that are not available at home or looking to be close to family members. But the lives of some migrants have been disrupted by war, poverty, gang violence, natural disasters and other factors that force them to abandon their homes and migrate to safer places.
When it comes to their new home, the United States, nearly eight in ten immigrants say they would choose to come here again if they had to make the decision all over. They are more likely than the public at large to say that they feel a strong emotional attachment to the nation, and about half believe it is a unique country that stands for something special in the world.
Compared to the public at large, most immigrants feel that others in this country treat them with respect and tolerance. But they also report more experiences of being treated like outsiders. For example, they are more likely than the general public to say that someone has assumed that they don’t speak English (51% vs. 10%), confused them with a store employee they didn’t recognize (41% vs. 9%) or called them racial slurs (39% vs. 20%).
While many Americans know a family member who is an immigrant, the general public may be less familiar with the diversity of the global immigrant population or how they contribute to our country’s culture and economy. Click through the links below to learn more about who they are, where they came from and how their presence has shaped America.