Immigration Facts
| Immigration |
| The US has the highest immigration levels in the world. Between 1970 and 1995, the US led the world by accepting 16.7 million legal immigrants; Russia was second with 4.1 million. |
| Between 1988 and 1998, more then 10 million people were legally admitted to the US. In 1998, 660,477 people were legally admitted, of these 20% or 130,661 were Mexican, more than from any other country (number two was China with 36,884). |
| Mexicans constitute 27% of all foreign-born Americans, by far the largest group, followed by the Philippines and China with about 4% each. |
| According to the Secretary General of the National Population Council (CONAPO), in the last three years approximately 900,000 Mexicans established residence in the U.S., increasing the number of Mexicans living in the U.S. to 8 millions (8% of the total population of Mexico). |
| In the year 2000, the US processed 2,252,594 Non-Immigrant Visa applications in Mexico, an increase of 37% from the year 1999 when 1,635,309 applications were processed. |
| Over 4 million Laser Visas have been issued between April, 1998 (the start of the program) and August, 2001. |
| In 1998 there were 960,000 daily crossings of the US-Mexican border, the most of any border in the world. |
| The US has nine consulates in Mexico, more than in any other country. |
| In 2000 the Border Patrol rescued from the desert, rivers and mountains 2,454 undocumented migrants. |