Immigrants from Saudi Arabia living in the United States increased by 93 percent between 2010 and 2014, the largest percentage increase of any country of origin, a report released Monday from the Center for Immigration Studies reveals.
Bangladesh was the country of origin with the second largest percentage increase, 37 percent, of immigrants living in the U.S. Iraq followed closely behind with 36 more immigrants from the country living in the U.S. between 2010 and 2014.
The Obama administration has facilitated an increase in immigration from Middle Eastern nations. The Department of Homeland Security granted Lawful Permanent Resident — green card — status to 103,901 immigrants from Middle Eastern nations in Fiscal Year 2014, a 32 percent increase from FY 2013.
The biggest increase in green cards were for immigrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. A 2015 Pew study found that Afghanistan and Iraq are the number one and two countries, respectively, when it comes to citizens who support making Sharia law the official law in their nation. Pakistan is fourth, according to Pew, when it to citizens supporting Sharia law becoming their nation’s law.
The CIS report found that in 2014 there 42.4 million legal and illegal immigrants living in the United States the largest amount in history. A little over 13 percent of the nation’s population is foreign born, the highest percentage since 1920. CIS also found that 87 percent of total U.S. population growth between 2010 and 2014 came from legal and illegal immigrants and their children.
As of March 2015, the rate of work for immigrants and natives are equal, yet immigrant households are almost twice as likely as American-born headed households to use at least one welfare program. Immigrants are also 3.5 times more likely than natives to not have a high school degree.