The number of foreigners who immigrated to the United States last year was 245,000, down 48.7% from the previous year, the biggest decline in ten years, according to US News & World Report, citing Federal Bureau data. population census.
The number of immigrants in the United States has grown steadily since it rose from 180,000 in 2010 to 795,000 in 2011. The number of people peaked at 1 million in 2016 and started to decline in 2017, but last year’s decline was particularly large following the COVID-19 pandemic.
California, Florida, Texas, New York, and Massachusetts were no exception to the states that received record numbers of immigrants every year. Last year, the decline in immigration in New York was 48%, and in the rest of the states, except for New York, it was 50%.
Declines in immigration were seen across all US states, with Nevada and Arizona having the highest decline rates at 52%. The number of people who immigrated to California last year was down 50.2% from the previous year. On the other hand, Wyoming and Idaho posted relatively small declines of 33% and 39%, respectively.
The Census Bureau analyzed that travel restrictions by countries around the world in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis have played a major role in the rapid reversal of immigration trends in the United States. Most of the reasons for immigrating to the United States last year were related to work, family and school, according to state-owned analytical company USA Facts.
Meanwhile, the number of refugees admitted by the US government in the fiscal year 2021 (October 2020 to September 2021) was 11,445.