Most Americans are familiar with “The New Colossus” — the famous Emma Lazarus poem mounted at the base of the Statue of Liberty that begs: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” But throughout its history, the U.S. has gone through fits and starts when it comes to raising its lamp to immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
The share of people granted permanent U.S. residence peaked over a century ago, during the Progressive Era of 1900-1915, when waves of mostly southern and Eastern Europeans arrived at Ellis Island. By 1919, almost 14% of the U.S. population was made up of immigrants who had been granted legal permanent residency since 1900.
The number and share of immigrants who had obtained legal residency declined in the next few decades — before and during World War II. After the end of the war, more and more immigrants had obtained legal status annually, until they peaked in 1991. Since then, figures have been more steady, meaning fewer people relative to the population have obtained legal residency. Here are America’s melting pot cities.
While the number of people granted legal residence in the U.S. has risen steadily, the U.S. has curbed its acceptance of refugees. In the ’80s and ’90s, the average annual number of refugees accepted into the U.S. was 97,846. Between 2000 and 2019 (the latest available data) that figure had fallen to 58,706.
The number of people granted U.S. asylum has fluctuated since records began in 1990 but generally rose, from 8,472 in 1990 to 46,508 in 2019. (These are America’s cultural capitals.)
Here are the number of persons granted lawful permanent U.S. residency every year since 1990
To find how many foreign nationals were granted lawful permanent residence (green card) each year from 1990 to 2019, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed Homeland Security data. The data also includes the number of refugee arrivals and number of individuals granted asylum each year.
Source: Andrew Thomas / Wikimedia Commons
1990
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,535,872 — #2 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 122,066 — #1 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 8,472 — #28 most since 1990
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Source: U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons
1991
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,826,595 — #1 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 113,389 — #4 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 5,035 — #30 most since 1990
Source: Gary B. Edstrom / Wikimedia Commons
1992
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 973,445 — #20 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 115,548 — #2 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 6,307 — #29 most since 1990
Source: Official White House photograph / Wikimedia Commons
1993
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 903,916 — #23 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 114,181 — #3 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 9,543 — #27 most since 1990
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Source: Andrea Booher / FEMA / Wikimedia Commons
1994
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 803,993 — #25 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 111,680 — #5 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 13,828 — #26 most since 1990
Source: NASA / Wikimedia Commons
1995
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 720,177 — #27 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 98,973 — #6 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 20,703 — #22 most since 1990
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Source: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons
1996
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 915,560 — #22 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 75,421 — #10 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 23,532 — #17 most since 1990
24/7 Wall St.
Source: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
1997
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 797,847 — #26 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 69,653 — #17 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 22,939 — #20 most since 1990
Source: Flickr user Kevin Jarrett / Wikimedia Commons
1998
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 653,206 — #29 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 76,712 — #9 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 20,507 — #23 most since 1990
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Source: Grj23 / Wikimedia Commons
1999
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 644,787 — #30 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 85,285 — #7 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 26,571 — #9 most since 1990
Source: Rob Boudon / Wikimedia Commons
2000
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 841,002 — #24 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 72,165 — #13 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 32,514 — #5 most since 1990
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Source: SFC Thomas R. Roberts / Wikimedia Commons
2001
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,058,902 — #12 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 68,920 — #18 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 39,148 — #2 most since 1990
24/7 Wall St.
Source: Sergeant Joseph R. Chenelly, United States Marine Corps / Wikimedia Commons
2002
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,059,356 — #11 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 26,785 — #29 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 36,937 — #4 most since 1990
Source: National Archive Catalog / Wikimedia Commons
2003
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 703,542 — #28 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 28,286 — #28 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 28,743 — #6 most since 1990
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Source: Tech. Sgt. Jerry Morrison Jr., U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons
2004
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 957,883 — #21 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 52,840 — #24 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 27,376 — #8 most since 1990
Source: Jocelyn Augustino / Wikimedia Commons
2005
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,122,257 — #7 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 53,738 — #22 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 25,304 — #14 most since 1990
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Source: Kjetil Ree / Wikimedia Commons
2006
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,266,129 — #3 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 41,094 — #26 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 26,352 — #10 most since 1990
24/7 Wall St.
Source: Ben Stanfield / Wikimedia Commons
2007
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,052,415 — #13 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 48,218 — #25 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 25,318 — #13 most since 1990
Source: CODEPINK Women For Peace / Wikimedia Commons
2008
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,107,126 — #8 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 60,107 — #19 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 23,022 — #19 most since 1990
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Source: Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo, U.S. Air Force / Wikimedia Commons
2009
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,130,818 — #5 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 74,602 — #11 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 22,303 — #21 most since 1990
Source: U.S. Coast Guard / Wikimedia Commons
2010
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,042,625 — #15 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 73,293 — #12 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 19,777 — #25 most since 1990
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Source: David Shankbone / Wikimedia Commons
2011
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,062,040 — #10 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 56,384 — #21 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 23,608 — #16 most since 1990
24/7 Wall St.
Source: New Jersey National Guard / Wikimedia Commons
2012
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,031,631 — #17 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 58,179 — #20 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 27,920 — #7 most since 1990
Source: White House / Sonya Hebert / Wikimedia Commons
2013
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 990,553 — #19 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 69,909 — #16 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 24,842 — #15 most since 1990
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Source: TechCrunch / Wikimedia Commons
2014
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,016,518 — #18 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 69,975 — #14 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 23,077 — #18 most since 1990
Source: Difference engine / Wikimedia Commons
2015
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,051,031 — #14 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 69,920 — #15 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 25,814 — #12 most since 1990
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Source: Krassotkin, Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons
2016
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,183,505 — #4 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 84,988 — #8 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 20,152 — #24 most since 1990
Source: Wikimedia Commons
2017
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,127,167 — #6 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 53,691 — #23 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 26,199 — #11 most since 1990
Source: Photo by Clive Brunskill / Getty Images
2018
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,096,611 — #9 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 22,405 — #30 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 37,567 — #3 most since 1990
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Source: United States House of Representatives or Office of the Speaker of the House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
2019
> No. of immigrants obtaining legal resident status: 1,031,765 — #16 most since 1990
> Refugee arrivals: 29,916 — #27 most since 1990
> Individuals granted asylum: 46,508 — #1 most since 1990
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