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Chinese Immigrants in the United States
USINFO | 2013-08-05 15:50
Although narratives describing the first waves of immigration to the United States often focus on European newcomers, Chinese migrants drawn by the economic boom associated with the 1849 California Gold Rush were also among the country’s early immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, however, banned most Chinese immigration to the country, and legal opportunities for Chinese migration to the United States did not expand significantly until the reform of the US immigration system in 1965.
The number of Chinese immigrants in the United States has grown each decade since 1960, when the population stood at just under 100,000, to reach 1.8 million in 2010. The Chinese born represented the second-largest immigrant group in the country (after the foreign born from Mexico) in 2010, and accounted for 4.5 percent of the total foreign-born population.
Compared to the foreign born overall, Chinese immigrants in 2010 reported higher levels of educational attainment, were less likely to live in households with an annual income below the poverty line, and were substantially more likely to have naturalized as US citizens. Yet, Chinese immigrants were also more likely to have limited English proficiency than the foreign born overall, and immigrant men born in China exhibited lower rates of labor force participation than immigrant men overall.
This Spotlight focuses on Chinese immigrants residing in the United States and examines the population's size, geographic distribution, admissions categories, legal status, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The data used are the most recent detailed data available and come from the US Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Survey (ACS), the 2000 Decennial Census (as well as earlier censuses), and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS).
The ACS and OIS data used in this article refer to immigrants born in Mainland China and Hong Kong. Instances wherein the data refer only to immigrants from Mainland China or from Hong Kong are noted.
The number of Chinese immigrants in the United States has grown each decade since 1960, when the population stood at just under 100,000, to reach 1.8 million in 2010. The Chinese born represented the second-largest immigrant group in the country (after the foreign born from Mexico) in 2010, and accounted for 4.5 percent of the total foreign-born population.
Compared to the foreign born overall, Chinese immigrants in 2010 reported higher levels of educational attainment, were less likely to live in households with an annual income below the poverty line, and were substantially more likely to have naturalized as US citizens. Yet, Chinese immigrants were also more likely to have limited English proficiency than the foreign born overall, and immigrant men born in China exhibited lower rates of labor force participation than immigrant men overall.
This Spotlight focuses on Chinese immigrants residing in the United States and examines the population's size, geographic distribution, admissions categories, legal status, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The data used are the most recent detailed data available and come from the US Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Survey (ACS), the 2000 Decennial Census (as well as earlier censuses), and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS).
The ACS and OIS data used in this article refer to immigrants born in Mainland China and Hong Kong. Instances wherein the data refer only to immigrants from Mainland China or from Hong Kong are noted.
