ABSTRACT
Immigration to the United States is accelerating, and foreign-born individuals account for a rising share of the total U.S. population. Data from the Current Population Survey show that the proportion of foreign-born U.S. residents reached 9.3 percent in March 1996, up from 7.9 percent in 1990, and nearly double the 1970 figure of 4.8 percent (Hansen and Faber 1997; Bureau of the Census 1995). Persons born outside the United States now constitute the largest fraction of the U.S. population since the Second World War. Of the nearly 25 million foreign-born U.S. residents, more than one-quarter arrived in this country since 1990, and another 34 percent entered during the 1980s. California is home to the largest number of immigrants (8 million), and New York ranks second with 3.2 million. Other states with at least a million foreign- born residents include Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and Illinois (Hansen and Faber 1997).
