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In June 2013, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued its International Migration Outlook report for 2013. The report contains summaries of changes in immigration in the 34 member countries of the OECD including the US. The US is not only the most populous country in the OECD, it is also the one that is home to the greatest immigrant population.
Over 40m (40.4m) current American residents in 2011 were foreign-born. This amounts to 13% of the total population. The OECD reports that the number of family and employment based visas granted in 2011 fell, as did the number of asylum claims but the number of refugees and the number of diversity-visa immigrants rose.
The diversity immigrant visa program is also known as The Green Card Lottery. Each year, 55,000 US permanent resident visas (colloquially known as green cards) are distributed in the green card lottery to applicants from countries with historically low levels of migration to the US.
1,062,000 new permanent residents
In 2011, the number of people gaining permanent residence in the US rose by 1.9% on the previous year to 1,062,000. Of these 43% were of Asian descent, an increase from 33% a decade before. The proportion of the total number of immigrants coming from North America (Mexico predominantly but also from Canada) fell from 38% in 2001 to 31% in 2011. 694,000 people became naturalised US citizens in 2011, Mexico being the most common birth country.It is notable that only about 6% of the total number of immigrants to the US in both 2010 and 2011 came in employment based visa categories.
There were also 808,500 people who came to the US as temporary migrants in 2011. Of these, about 450,000 were students and around 300,000 came on temporary work visas including about 71,000 on L-1 intra company transfer visas and 85,000 with H-1B 'specialty occupation' visas which allow graduate-level workers to work in the US for up to three years. These visas can be renewed once and those in the US with an H-1B visa are allowed to apply for permanent residence once they have been in the country for five years.
Permanent Migration inflows 2010/11
| 2010 | 2011 | |
| Work | 67,000 | 65,300 |
| Family | 772,400 | 762,200 |
| Humanitarian | 136,300 | 168,500 |
| Others | 56,300 | 68,700 |
| Total | 1,041,900 | 1,061,400 |
Temporary Migration inflows
| 2010 | 2011 | |
| Students | 385,200 | 447,400 |
| Seasonal workers | 55,900 | 55,400 |
| Intra company transfers | 65,500 | 70,700 |
| Others | 217,600 | 35,000 |
The OECD reports that there are an estimated 11.5m illegal residents currently living in the US who entered the country, whether legally or illegally, between 1980 and 2010. The OECD says that only 14% of these arrived after 2005 which suggests that the rate of illegal immigration has slowed though whether this is a temporary slowdown caused by the recession of 2007-12 is not clear.
The US immigration system is complex and huge backlogs have built up over the years. Applicants for permanent resident visas in some family categories and from some countries can wait for over 20 years to become permanent residents. Applicants for EB-3 employment based green cards from China and India can wait for eight years or more.
No consensus on fixing 'broken' immigration system
President Obama said, in 2012, that the US immigration system is 'broken' and figures from both the main political parties agree with him. However, they can never agree about what ought to be done to reform it.The US Congress is currently considering the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act 2013. If this becomes law, it will
- Increase the level of border security along the Mexican border
- Create a 'pathway to citizenship' for many illegal immigrants
- Increase the number of employment-based green cards
- Increase the number of H-1B visas from 85,000 to over 200,000 at times of great demand.
- Create a new 'w-visa' for unskilled workers
- Require US employers to check the immigration status of potential employees using the E-Verify system
The bill was drafted by a group of four Republican and four Democrat senators known as the Gang of Eight. Supporters of reform hope that the bipartisan nature of the gang might help the bill pass through Congress which is bitterly divided along party lines. Congressmen and women have found it increasingly difficult to find any common ground in recent years so, despite the fact that most people agree that the system does not work, it may prove impossible to reform it. Congress will vote on the law this summer.
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