31% Drop in Immigrants in 2020

707,362: that's the number of legal immigrants (persons granted lawful permanent resident status) who came to the United States in fiscal year 2020, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, that number is 31 percent less than the 1,031,765 legal immigrants of 2019. It is also the smallest number of immigrants admitted to the United States since 2003, when legal immigration plummeted in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status for selected fiscal years, 2000 to 2020

2020:   707,362

2019: 1,031,765

2015: 1,051,031

2010: 1,042,625

2005: 1,122,257

2003:   703,542 (low point of the 2000s)

2000:   841,002

Almost every country in the world sent fewer immigrants to the United States in 2020 than in 2019. The only exceptions were Yemen, Burundi, Iran, Iceland, Monaco, Afghanistan, Madagascar, Serbia, and Libya. 

The number of immigrants fell by at least 50 percent between 2019 and 2020 in 18 countries, including Cuba and Iraq.

The biggest numerical declines between 2019 and 2020 were experienced by some of the countries that send us the most immigrants: Mexico (-56,000), China (-21,000), Dominican Republic (-20,000), Philippines (-20,000), and India (-8,000). 

The immigrant decline has contributed to labor shortages in the United States. But things may be turning around, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. After falling to a quarterly low of 79,000 in mid-2020, Pew reports that the volume of green cards issued in the final quarter of fiscal year 2021 (July-September) climbed to 282,000, higher than in any quarter since April-June 2017.

Source: Department of Homeland Security, 2020 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics