Explore Immigration: Welcome

The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants. Almost every country in the world is represented among U.S. immigrants.

In this “prose poem,” Nigerian-born poet Ijeoma Umebinyuo pays tribute to the stories of immigrants and the lives they lead in the United States:

Here's to the security guards who maybe had a degree in another land. Here's to the manicurist who had to leave her family to come here, painting the nails, scrubbing the feet of strangers. Here's to the janitors who don't even understand English, yet work hard despite it all. Here's to the fast food workers who work hard to see their famly smile. Here's to the laundry man at the Marriott who told me with a sparkle in his eyes how he was an engineer in Peru. Here’s to the bus driver, the Turkish Sufi who almost danced when I quoted Rumi. Here’s to the harvesters who live in fear of being deported for coming here to open the road for their future generation. Here’s to the taxi drivers from Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and India who gossip amongst themselves. Here is to them waking up at 4 am, calling home to hear the voices of their loved ones. Here is to their children, to the children who despite it all become artists, writers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, activists and rebels. Here’s to Western Union and Money Gram. For never forgetting home. Here’s to their children who carry the heartbeats of their motherland and even in sleep, speak with pride about their fathers. Keep on.

As legislators grapple with the task of immigration reform, discussion stalls in the heated ideological differences that are part of the American psyche. Do we welcome the huddled masses longing for freedom and a chance at the American dream or do immigrants deprive native citizens resources and jobs? Read individual insights in Why is immigration such a hot-button issue?

There’s been confusion and debate over the terms used to describe the plight of those on the move. Here’s a closer look at Migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants: What’s the difference?

Global migration, by the numbers: who migrates, where they go and why.