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Title: European Immigrants in the United States
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2015
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Abstract: Once the backbone of U.S. immigration flows, European migration to the United States has steadily declined since 1960, with a small uptick following the end of communism in the 1990s. European immigrants numbered 4.8 million in 2014, out of a total immigrant population of 42.4 million. The share of Europeans among the total U.S. foreign-born population plunged from 75 percent in 1960 to 11 percent in 2014, as immigration from Latin America and Asia surged to new prominence after the Immigration Act of 1965 abolished national-origin quotas that gave preference to European migration. The motivations and demographic composition of immigrants have changed over the long history of European migration to the United States. The first wave, between the 16th and 18th centuries, largely consisted of Englishspeaking settlers from the British Isles seeking economic opportunity and religious freedom. Considering the high costs of crossing the Atlantic, Europeans arriving in this era were a mix of well-to-do individuals and indentured servants. From the 1840s to 1850s, the second wave witnessed . . .
Url: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/european-immigrants-united-states
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Authors: Zong, Jie; Batalova, Jeanne
Publisher: Migration Policy Institute Spotlight
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Migration and Immigration
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