The United States has always been a country of immigrants. The English-speaking Protestant Christians who founded the country, however, have not always welcomed other types of arrivals. The disdained have changed over time.
Share of U.S. population born in another country, by region of origin
16% of U.S. population
14%
12%
ASIA
10%
8%
6%
LATIN
AMERICA
4%
EUROPE
2%
0%
2016
1900
16% of U.S. population
<1%
14%
<1%
12%
4%
ASIA
10%
8%
MEXICO
6%
7%
4%
2%
EUROPE
2%
0%
1920
1940
1960
1980
2000
2016
1900
16% of U.S. population
<1%
14%
<1%
12%
4%
ASIA
10%
GERMANY
8%
MEXICO
6%
OTHER
7%
4%
2%
EUROPE
2%
0%
1970
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1980
1990
2000
2010
2016
1900
At one time, non-English-speaking northern Europeans were scorned. Then it was French Canadians, the famine Irish, Catholic Italians, anarchist Germans, fleeing Jews, Asian workers attacked by other immigrants, and Spanish-speaking Latin Americans.
In the big picture, the United States is in its second great wave of immigration since 1900. The first wave was primarily Europeans. It triggered restrictions on immigration in the 1920s. Loosened rules in the 1960s permitted the current wave, made up mostly of Latin Americans and Asians.
In 2015, Donald Trump said this of Mexican immigrants: "They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
And this week Trump is alleged to have complained “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” during discussion of immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and Africa.
Share of U.S. population born in another country, by selected country of origin
1.4% of U.S. population
1.2%
1.0%
0.8%
0.6%
0.4%
0.2%
NORWAY
HAITI
0.0%
1900
2016
1.4% of U.S. population
0.1%
1.2%
1.0%
0.6%
0.8%
OTHER
AFRICA
<0.1%
0.6%
0.4%
0.4%
0.2%
NORWAY
0.2%
HAITI
0.0%
1900
1920
1940
1960
1980
2000
2016
1.4% of U.S. population
1.3%
0.1%
1.2%
1.1%
1.0%
0.6%
0.9%
OTHER
AFRICA
0.8%
0.7%
<0.1%
0.6%
0.5%
0.4%
0.4%
0.3%
0.2%
NORWAY
0.2%
0.1%
HAITI
0.0%
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2016
About this story
Post analysis of Census microdata from 1900 through 2016 via IPUMS-USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org.
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