Saudi Arabian immigrants living in the US has increased by as much as 93 percent between 2010 and 2014. This is the highest percentage increase for any nation, according to a new report, released by the Center for Immigration Studies, on Monday.
The second biggest percentage increase country was Bangladesh, at 37 percent, with Iraq close behind, at 36 percent. A rise in immigration from countries in the Middle East has been facilitated by the Obama administration, with green cards being granted by the Department of Homeland Security to as many as 103,901 Middle Eastern immigrants in the 2014 fiscal year. This is an increase of as much as 32 percent from the previous fiscal year. The largest increase in green cards was to immigrants from Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
The Center for Immigration Studies report found that there were 42.2 million legal and undocumented immigrants living in the US as of 2014, the biggest amount in recorded history. Just over 14 percent of the population was born overseas, the highest number since 1920, with 87 percent of the total population growth of the US between 2010 and 2014 also coming from immigrants and their offspring.
As of March last year, there was an equal rate of work for both natives of, and immigrants to, the US, although immigrant households are almost 50 percent more likely to make use of welfare programs as American-born households.