Number of immigrants living in the U.S. reaches record 44.4 million

The number of immigrants living in the United States has grown dramatically, to a record 44.4 million in 2017.

That’s a fourfold increase from 9.7 million in 1960, according to the Pew Research Center, the nonpartisan analyst in Washington. As a percentage of the total U.S. population, immigrants increased from 5.4 percent to 13.6 percent during the same time.

What’s more, the number of immigrants living in the United States is projected to almost double by 2065, according to Pew.

The data include both undocumented immigrants — those who entered the country without permission or stayed after their visas expired — and those who are here legally.

Those big demographic changes have been propelled by the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, which eliminated a quota system that was mostly reserved for Europeans. The law instituted policies based on reuniting families and attracting skilled labor.

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Since the act took effect, the home regions for immigrants have shifted dramatically.

In 1960, 84 percent of all immigrants in the U.S. were born in Europe or Canada. Only 6 percent were from Mexico, 3.8 percent from South and East Asia, and 3.5 percent from Latin America. Now, European and Canadian immigrants make up a much smaller share, 13.2 percent of the foreign-born population. South and East Asians compose 27.4 percent, Mexicans 25.3 percent, and Latin Americans 25.1 percent.

The age structure around the immigrant population is changing too, becoming younger. The largest age group in 1960 was between 65 and 69, changing to between ages 40 to 44 in 2017.

About a quarter of the nation’s foreign-born population is undocumented. The number peaked at 12.2 million in 2007, Pew said, declining to about 10.7 million as the number of Mexicans decreased.