The number of people who immigrated to the United States from overseas last year was 245,000, down 48.7% from the previous year and the biggest decline in ten years according to US News & World Report citing data from the Federal Bureau of the Census.
The number of immigrants in the United States has grown steadily since it rose from 180,000 in 2010 to 795,000 in 2011. The number of people peaked at 1 million in 2016 and began to decline in 2017, but last year’s decline was particularly large following the COVID-19 pandemic.
States such as New York, California, Massachusetts, Florida and Texas are no exception which annually receive a record number of immigrants. Last year the decline in immigration in New York was 48% and in the rest of the states excluding New York it was 50%.
Declines in immigration were seen across all US states with Nevada and Arizona having the highest decline rates at 52%.
Wyoming and Idaho posted relatively small declines of 33% and 39% respectively.
The Census Bureau analyzed that travel restrictions by countries around the world in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis have played a major role in the rapid reversal of immigration trends in the United States.
Reasons for immigrating to the United States last year were related to work, family and school according to USAFacts, a government data analysis company.
Meanwhile, the number of refugees admitted by the federal government in fiscal year 2021 (October 2020 to September 2021) was 11,445.