Thursday Feb. 7, 2013
Below are some interesting graphics from the U.S. Census Bureau, comparing America’s foreign-born population in 1960 and 2010.
Key takeaways:
- The foreign-born population jumped to 40 million in 2010, from 9.7 million in 1960.
- The foreign-born population accounted for 12.9 percent of the population here in 2010, compared to 9.7 percent in 1960. Interestingly, the foreign-born population, as a percent, peaked in 1890 at 14.8 percent and hovered at the level until declining around 1920.
- Europeans accounted for 75 percent of the foreign-born population in 1960 and 12 percent in 2010. Latinos accounted for 9 percent of the foreign-born population in 1960 and 53 percent in 2010.
Remember, foreign-born doesn’t equate to undocumented. Foreign-born can include legal permanent residents, naturalized citizens as well as undocumented immigrants. Here are the numbers:
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
Tim Vandenack is a reporter at the Elkhart Truth newspaper in Elkhart, Ind., www.etruth.com. He can be reached at tvandenack@etruth.com or 574-296-5884. Visit him/subscribe to him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter at @timvandenack.
